Things Change: A Draco Malfoy Love Story
by toosexyforyoureyes
Summary: Draco Malfoy and Briana Brightsman were best friends since they were six years old; until Briana moved to America at age eleven. After six years of living in California, what will happen when Briana returns to her old life in England, with Draco? This ruritanian story follows the adventure of how Briana and Draco go from best friends to near strangers, to... well, read to find out!
1. Prologue

_Age 6_

"Hello there! My name's Briana. What's your name?"

"Hello Briana. My name's Draco. Mum said you live in the house right next to ours now!"

"Yup, I do! But my mum said you can't come over yet because we haven't put the finishing touches."

"Oh okay. Well, do you want to go to my house? The house elves just made a batch of brownies!"

"Yummy! Let's go before they get cold!"

_Age 8_

"Hey Bri, since we're best friends now, do you think we will be best friends for the rest of our lives?"

"I hope so. I don't like any of the other kids that mum's friends bring over. I only like you."

"I like you too. That's why you're my best friend."

"You promise me that you'll like me forever, okay? This ice cream is delicious!"

"If we ever get married, I'll tell the wedding people to serve us this ice cream, just for you, Briana."

"I don't think best friends don't marry each other, Draco."

"Maybe when we're grown-ups, we'll know for sure. Because I love you right now, but I might love you so much more when we're older that I'll make you my wife."

"That sounds fun! But no matter what, we'll always be together, right?"

"Right!"

_Age 11_

"I promise I will come back as soon as I can, Draco."

"Father said you guys will not come back."

"We are moving to America... But mum said we're coming back here when she's done with her work."

"Well I'm leaving to Hogwarts next week. And I only come home on holidays. You have school too. We'll hardly see each other anymore, Briana."

"But you'll still be my best friend, right?"

"Always. Now go; your mother's calling you."

"Bye Draco. Love you."

"Love you too, Bri."

_Age 15_

"Briana, I have wonderful news!"

"What is it, mother?! Did you get promoted again?!"

"No, it's much better than that! My shift in America's ended and they're sending me back to the headquarters in London!"

"A-Are you serious?! Really?!"

"Honestly! We're arranged to leave this Saturday, darling!"

"Ooh, I can't wait! I better get packing, then!"

"Oh, Briana?"

"Yes, mum?!"

"You **do **remember the Malfoys, don't you?"

"How could I forget?"

"We're moving back into our old house, next to theirs! I've sent an owl to Narcissa and Lucius and they're overjoyed. As is their son, Draco. They can't wait to meet up with us, again!"

"Mother, this is by far the best day of my life, so far! I love you!"

"Yes, yes, I love you too! Now go get packing!"


	2. Chapter 1

Briana was so excited to go back to London. To go back home! Who wouldn't be, after five years? London was her real home. And right next to her old best friend. It was too good to be true! But there were also the cons of moving. They were big cons, too.

When the Brightsman family came to America, five years ago, she had found another best friend. Sure, Draco was still considered her actual best friend, but you can't expect a girl to spend the next five years of her life just waiting to go back to her old friend. She had to make new friends, of course! Briana's best friend's name is Samantha Happelsful. One of the most gorgeous people she's ever seen. Samantha, also known as Sammy, has long, wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and she's really tall. Samantha has this really lively personality and she's the one who turned Briana into the wild sort of party girl the she currently was.

The two of them go out and party together all the time. And Briana loves her! They're each other's partners in crime. Last year, Briana and Samantha went to a friend's party and there were a few girls there that knew how to rise Briana's temper. Let's just say that when Briana went on a rampage, Sammy was right there with her. Leaving her behind was a big reason Briana wouldn't want to leave. But the biggest reason she was hesitant to leave? Justin.

Justin Emmerson is Briana's boyfriend. Has been for almost a year. Justin and Briana met at Wittage Academy for witches and wizards, which is the school she had been attending since she first moved to California.

It was just last year, 4th year, and they were in Astronomy together. Their class was taking an over-night trip to look at the stars at their brightest. Briana was laying down, drawing the stars, away from everyone else. She didn't get along with many other people. Mostly just Samantha, but she wasn't in this class.

Justin came and laid down right next to her, like it was the most common thing in the world. Briana stared at him while he started drawing too, and when he noticed, he looked back at her and just grinned. The two of them laid there and just drew in silence. When they were called by Professor Smidgens to go back to their sleeping places, they both stood up.

"I'm Justin.", he smiled that smile of his.

"I'm Briana," she said back.

"Nice to finally meet you."

"What do you mean 'finally'?"

"Let's just say I've had my eye on you for a while, now."

And he walked away, smirking. Two weeks later, the two of them were dating. And it was that simple; they were a happy, cute couple and it was amazing for them to have one another.

But for how much longer, now? She knew that long-distance relationships don't work. She thought about how moving to America had kept her and Draco from talking for years. And moving back to London would do the same for she and Justin, so she decided that she had no choice but to break it off with him. It was not exactly what Briana wanted, but it was for the best. Breaking the news to your best friend and boyfriend? Briana didn't it was fun. At all.


	3. Chapter 2

Briana decided she would tell Samantha first. Of course, telling your best friend you're leaving her behind is hard, but telling your boyfriend is much harder. With that in mind, she quickly sent an owl to Sammy and invited her over. Forty minutes later and she walks in the door.

Samantha smiled at her, "Hey BriBri. So what's so important that I had to rush over here? I'm not becoming a god-mother, am I?"

Briana chuckled, "Yeah, right. No, this is serious, Samantha."

She sat down on the couch next to her, "Okay. Well, what is it?"

"I'm leaving. Back to London."

"Forever?"

She nodded.

Samantha sat back and sighed, "At least you're going home."

Briana shrugged, "I guess so. But I don't wanna leave you guys."

She waved her hand, nonchalantly, "Come on, BriBri. You know I always land on my feet. Besides; I'll come visit you every chance I get! You know my parents have the money, so don't even worry about it. I'll fly over and bother you all the time. And if you want me to, I'll even bring Justin! Speaking of J, have you told him yet?"

Briana shook her head, "Naw, I wanted to tell you first. I'm kind of dreading the moment I have to tell him."

She stood up, "Well, I'm not allowing you to put it off any longer, girly. I'm leaving now, so you owl him right away and tell him to get his ass over here. Kay?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. OH, and you better be here Saturday morning to say goodbye to me!"

She blew her friend a kiss and opened the door, "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Briana! Now send an owl to him! Love you!"

"Love you too!", Briana called as she left.

She sighed to herself and quickly sent an owl to Justin's house as well. The letter sounded serious and sad, and she hoped he would get the point that he wasn't coming over for fun. She sent the owl on its way and groaned, hoping Justin would take a long time to get there. She sat on the couch, making up a sort of script in her mind of what she would say to Justin. Twenty minutes later, he walked into her house, calling, "Briana! I'm here!"

Great. Well, no turning back now. Briana walked out into the front hall where he was standing. When he saw her, he grinned that stupid, adorable grin of his, and she fell into him, giving him a big bear hug.

He pulled away and looked at her, "What's the matter? You only hug me that tightly when there's a problem."

"Exactly, J. There is a problem. A big one."

"Well let's go sit down and talk about it, then," he looked nervous and a little scared.

The two of them sat down on the black, leather love seat that matched the couch and three chairs in the large living room. He sat down with his legs sprawled out on the couch and motioned for her to come sit with him. She did and Justin wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"So. Tell me, baby. What's this big problem you're so worked up about?"

"I... I have to leave."

"What? Okay, where to? For like a month, or something? Are you going to boarding school?!"

She shook her head, already feeling the tears coming, "It's worse than that. I'm going back to London. Forever. I'm going to live there now, for the rest of my school years. London. I'm going to go to Hogwarts, Justin. Move back into my old house. I love the sound of it, but it will be without you."

She was crying lightly now. Justin's face was very serious and he looked sad, too, saying, "Hey, it's okay, Briana. You get to back to your actual home, right? And see your old friends again. I mean, it does feel a bit like a hell, losing you, but we both know that long-distance relationships don't work."

Briana nodded slowly, "So you understand, then? You're not mad? I really still want to be friends with you."

"I'd never be mad at you. It's not like you're purposely moving away from me. And I'll always be your friend. And part of me will always love you, Briana."

"I love you too, Justin."

The couple just looked at each other with so much emotion as they kissed for one, last time. And they kissed for a long time, with all the passion and lust they had left for each other.

Because they both knew that from the moment they broke that kiss, they would just be friends.

* * *

Saturday morning and everything was packed in boxes and the Brightsman family's furniture and everything was already sent to their house out in England. Things go by that quickly when you're a magical family. Briana and her parents were getting ready to go and as promised, Samantha and Justin were both there to see her off.

"Ugh, Sammy, you better keep that promise and visit me like it's your part-time job!"

She hugged her sad friend, "My full-time job, BriBri. And don't you worry at all. Now, I want you to get a look at all the clubs around where you live in England so that when I DO come to visit, we'll know where to go, kay?"

Briana laughed, "Will do sister. Love you, Samantha!"

"Love you too, Briana!"

She turned to Justin next, "Mr. J, you have to come visit me too! And don't you dare forget that I'm like, your best female friend!"

"I'll come up with Sammy sometime. And I couldn't forget if I tried! I still love you, Briana. Enjoy England for me, will you?"

She nodded and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, "I love you too, Justin!"

As Briana stepped into her car, she gave them one, last, long look, etching their faces permanently into her brain. She vowed that she would never ever ever forget them. She rolled down the window as the car started slowly pulling into the road, "Don't forget about me, loves!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, darling!" "We'll remember you always, BriBri!"

She smiled a little sadly, but she couldn't stay all that sad when she thought about how she was moving back to her birthplace; to herr old, real home; to her favorite place in the world; to right back next door to her best friend's house. She suddenly thought to herself about Draco, "I wonder if Draco's exactly how I remember him; small, innocent, cute, friendly, but also a jerk sometimes... funny and of course, a quidditch freak."

It has been 5 years, so she assumed he would be a bit different, but she hoped it was not a bad different. She wondered what he thought she looked like? Whenever she looked at photos of her younger self, she had to admit that she looked rather different now, in a good way, according to Samantha and mum. But when it came down to it, she was really just excited to see him again! And his parents! Narcissa and Lucius were like Briana's second parents, honestly. This will be good. No, not good; BRILLIANT.

The Brightsman family boarded the airplane, taking off. Briana looked out the small, circular window at the passing clouds until her eyes grew heavy and she fell into a comfortable sleep.


	4. Chapter 3

Briana's shiny, black car with the tinted windows pulled into the driveway of her old, big house. Well, more of a mansion than a house. Her dark brown eyes scanned the familiar surroundings; the large, colorful gardens, the tall hedges, the large, wooden sign reading "Brightsman Manor". and of course, the Malfoy Manor, right next door.

She stepped out of the car, followed by her parents. Briana stepped onto the driveway in front of her house. As her foot came into contact with the stone ground, flashbacks of things happening on this very driveway flooded her mind: 6 year-old Briana and Draco were running on the driveway when she tripped and fell, scraping her knee. Draco found it funny and laughed, until he realized she'd actually been injured; as 10 year-olds, Draco was watching Briana practice her tricks for her dance number. He grew tired of watching and asked her to teach her some tricks, which she eagerly did. And that day, she found out that he was a fast learner.

Briana couldn't help but smile to herself as she walked towards the front door of her old home. It was all still like a dream to her. Not a week ago, she was sitting at her home, back in the United States. But now, here she is, back in London, the home of her childhood. Briana looked back at her parents who were now standing behind her, all three of them facing the door. They smiled at her and nodded for her to open the door.

The 15 year-old got a small smile on her face and slowly pushed open the big, oak, front doors to their home. She stepped inside and it was like she was dreaming. Everything was exactly how they'd left it. The furniture and house-hold objects they sent over here ahead of time was already placed perfectly in the rooms, down to the last details. She laughed a little bit and walked around, looking at the whole first floor and repeatedly thought, "I remember that!" or "I totally forgot about that!" and she thought the whole feeling was wonderful.

She met back up with her parents in the entrance hall, and they were all smiles.

Her mother said, "What do you think?"

"It's just how I remember it being! But at the same time, it's kind of unfamiliar..."

"So you do like this though, is that correct?"

"Yes, I love it! Can I go see my room!?"

Briana's father laughed at her, "Go right ahead. The house elves have already finished all the rooms anyways, so there's absolutely no empty rooms!"

"Brilliant!"

She ran up the large, wide staircase and turned right, ran down the hall, and faced the second to last door on the left. Her old bedroom. She turned the doorknob eagerly and looked at the room before her. Briana's old bedroom of 6 years was exactly how she'd remembered it; light green walls, soft white carpet, the giant windows looking over the front driveway, and of course, the balcony that looked straight over to Malfoy Manor.

Briana was smiling very fondly at the memories she'd had in her mind, because of that balcony. Both the Malfoy Manor and the Brightsman Manor were so big, they weren't exactly right next to each other. They were a few feet away. But that didn't stop Briana and Draco from talking to each other from their balconies, sometimes. That's what this place was full of; memories. And Briana loved it. Very much.

The Brightsman family of three sat together around the large black, wooden table in their kitchen. The dining room was only ever used for dinner parties, or parties in general. They were happy as they ate their delicious meal in a comfortable silence.

After a while, Mrs. Anais Brightsman broke their silence with a bit of a reminder.

"Please do well to remember that we're going over to the Malfoy's tomorrow for lunch at noon."

"When was this decided?"

"Yesterday afternoon. Why? Don't you want to go?"

"Well of course I want to go! I just don't remember hearing about this in the first place."

"You were probably spaced out again...", her father joked.

"I heard that, dad..."

"There was nothing to hear..."

They finished their meals then went up to their individual rooms, falling asleep almost as soon as they were covered in their blankets. And Briana experienced the best sleep she's had in years.

A few feet away, at the Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy was being called downstairs by his mother. He quickly walked down the spiral staircase that sat in his home and entered the sitting room where his mother was waiting for him.

"Yes, what is it mother?"

"I'm just reminding you about tomorrow. You don't get to sleep in like you have been the past few days."

"I don't think I could have even forgotten if I tried to. I'll be awake; you know I'm very punctual."

"Of course you are! Why it wasn't my son who was late for breakfast with the Parkinson's last month, now was it?", she teased him with a smile on her face.

"That was one time! And you know how much I despise Pansy..."

"Yes, well, you _don't _despise Briana, so be awake, Draco."

"I promise I will be!"

He gave his mother a hug goodnight and went back upstairs to his large, dark room. Eager to face the next day, Draco Malfoy fell asleep quickly, dreaming of what events the following day would hold.


	5. Chapter 4

Briana woke up at 10 'clock the morning of their lunch date with the Malfoy's. She had two hours until then, but she would rather be up too early than too late. And, of course, she wanted to make sure she was looking good for the first time she sees her best friend after 5 years.

She was also up very early because she was too excited to sleep any longer. Briana got out of her bed and drew back the curtains, letting the bright sun shine into her room.

With a smile on her face, she walked into her bathroom and turned on the water. She went and put on some music; one that was very happy-sounding and completely fit her mood at that moment, "Magic" by B.O.B.

Briana hopped into the shower and started singing along with the song happily. She couldn't contain her excitement for what was happening in just a matter of minutes.

She dried herself off and, wrapped in her towel, went to her closet. Looking around the gigantic walk-in closet, she tried to decide what to wear. She tried on several different outfits, but it wasn't until about an hour later that she finally decided on a cute, floral sundress that her mother bought her a few months ago.

(In case you couldn't figure it out, this is the dress she chose to wear)

By now, Briana had about half an hour to finish getting ready for lunch. She used a spell to make her hair have loose curls, and another spell to apply her make-up. She didn't wear much of it; just mascara and lip gloss most of the time.

She put her shoes on and finally went down the stairs to the entrance hall of her home. It was 5 minutes until noon, and her parents appeared from the living room, smiling at her.

"You look very nice, Briana," her father complimented.

"Thank you, father!"

"Yes, I knew that dress would look great on you right when I picked it up in that boutique.", her mother agreed.

Then they were on their way to the Malfoy Manor, just next door. Briana's head swam with many different thoughts. She was thinking of many seperate scenarios that might take place when she got there, when she saw Draco.

_What if he looks completely different? What if he's not like the same person anymore? What if he doesn't even recognize me? Worst of all, what if he hates me now?!_

With the last thought, she got butterflies in her stomach and she wasn't exactly as excited as she was when she'd woken up that morning. I mean, of course she was still eager to see him, it's just that before she'd never really thought about the possibility of something negative happening when she got there.

Well, it was the moment of truth, because the Brightsman family had finally reached the Malfoy Manor. Briana's father gave three firm knocks on the large door. It was quickly answered by one of the house elves that worked at Malfoy Manor, Briana recognized it as the one named Mika.

Mika bowed to them and gestured to the entrance hall. They waited there patiently while Mika the house elf went away through a door that Briana remembered led to the gardens in the gigantic backyard.

The house elf returned a moment later and spoke, "Please follow Mika to the gazebo in the garden where the Malfoy family awaits you."

So the Brightsman family of three followed her out to the garden and on a short walk to a large gazebo that sat in the left corner of the Malfoy's property. From a distance, Briana could see three white-blonde heads sitting at a round table.

When they finally walked up the three small steps to the gazebo, the three Malfoy's stood up and greeted them, and the whole occasion was much like a miniature family reunion, which in a sense, it was.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were like Briana's other parents, and Perseus and Anais Brightsman were like Draco's other parents.

Lucius smiled at Briana, shook her hand, patted her back and said, "How wonderful to see you again, Briana." Narcissa smiled even wider at the girl, gave her a long, tight hug and said, "Oh Merlin's beard, Briana, you're so grown up now! You're so beautiful! Great to have you back, dear!"

And as Briana's parents greeted Draco's parents, there was no more avoiding it, not that either of them really wanted. Time to face your best friend, five years later. Briana finally looked at Draco Malfoy, and it amazed her. He was much different, much older, much more mature-looking.

He had the same white-blonde hair, the same bright blue eyes and that same, enticing little smirk. He'd just gotten so much taller, much more mature, and, dare she say, much more good-looking. She could hardly believe he was him. Whatever puberty had done to Draco Malfoy, puberty had done it right.

As Draco looked over Briana Brightsman, he was thrilled and slightly surprised. He didn't know his best friend could look so different. She was much taller now and had curves. Very nice curves. Things had gotten bigger. Her brown hair had gotten longer and slightly darker, but had the same healthy shine. She also had the same, dark brown eyes he always liked. As wrong as one may think it is, Draco thought his best friend was now very very attractive. Time had done Briana Brightsman extremely well.

Their eyes finally met, and they smiled at each other. Their smiles were huge. All at once, they were hugging each other tighter than anything else. And they hugged for a while. Briana was happy. Draco was happy. They were together again.

When they pulled away, they smiled at each other again. Briana laughed a little and Draco smirked at her.

"I missed you, best friend," Briana said.

"I guarantee I missed you more, best friend," Draco said.

Narcissa said they ought to start actually eating lunch then, so they all sat down. The Brightsman family on one side of the table, the Malfoy family on the other. The wives were across from each other, as were the husbands, as were the best friends.

The six of them ate their appetizers in the most wonderful silence any of them would ever experience, the kind of silence that makes you happy. They only looked at each other occasionally and smiled. But they did start talking when their main courses arrived.

The adults mainly just talked amongst themselves, but would sometimes ask one of the teenagers a simple question. The two teenagers themselves hardly said anything at all, until they were eating ice cream for dessert and the grown-ups were completely wrapped up in their own conversation that neither Briana nor Draco cared about.

Draco asked Briana, "Are coming to Hogwarts with me this fall?"

"I certainly am. Why? Are you eager to show me off?"

He smirked, "We won't have to wait until then; we're hosting our yearly 'end of Summer holiday' party and you are going to be my date."

"Draco, I don't particularly remember being asked to be your date."

"Will you please be my date, Briana?"

"I would be delighted, young man." she smiled at him.

Lunch was over soon after that, and the Brightsman's were meant to go home, seeing as both they and the Malfoy's had work to do. But as they were getting ready to leave, Briana's parents said, "Well, Briana, we suppose you could stay here, we'd just be working the whole time. You and Draco can make up for all those lost years."

Narcissa and Lucius thought it was a great idea as well, so she stayed. Both of their parents disappeared to do work.

"Shall we, Bri?"

"We shall, Dray."

With those few words, both their hearts were warmed a bit, because nobody else called them those nicknames, and they loved them.

Briana Brightsman and Draco Malfoy walked up the stairs side-by-side, finally together again.


	6. Chapter 5

"Ready to see where magic is made?", Draco smirked as he turned his doorknob.

"I'm pretending that you're still young and mean a different type of magic."

They walked into Draco's room, which was a lot like Briana remembered it. The dark green walls, the dark hardwood floor, his bathroom to the left, his closet to the right, his gigantic black and green bed, and of course, the balcony that looked over to the Brightsman manor.

"Your room is exactly the same, but... different."

"And what in the name of Merlin should that mean?"

"Well I mean, it's more like a teenager's room now.

There's quidditch posters _everywhere _now. It was just one wall before!"

"Maybe you've failed to notice, but things change over a span of five years."

"Oh, I've noticed."

They eyed each other and both found a smirk forming on their faces. It wasn't exactly inaccurate to say that Briana and Draco found one another attractive. Briana took a seat on the hard floor of Draco's bedroom as he sat on his bed.

"Don't you want to sit somewhere else?"

"I've actually grown fond of this floor."

"...Was that some kind of a joke?"

"If you want it to be."

"Blimey, you're much more sassy than your younger self."

"Perhaps you've failed to notice, but things change over a span of five years, Draco," she smirked as she mimicked him.

"No, Briana, I've definitely noticed."

She couldn't ignore the question any longer, "What do you mean by that?"

"Let's just say I think there's some sort of... erm... sexual tension."

"Dray, I'm not gonna have sex with you any time soon."

"That's not exactly what I was insinuating."

"Enlighten me, then."

"Admit that you find me attractive," he smirked at his best friend.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you know it's true."

"Alright. I find you attractive."

"Thanks, I am pretty damn good-looking."

Briana laughed at him, "Whatever! Now say it to me! You know you do!"

"Okay, Bri, I find you attractive."

"I know you do," she smiled at him and he rolled his eyes, but smiled too.

"I never really knew you could look that much different," Draco commented while trailing his eyes over her again.

"Don't look at me like that; you're still my best friend."

"I know, but why can't we be best friends with benefits?"

"Fine, okay, whatever. You've always had benefits, though!"

"Like when?! We haven't seen in each other in years!"

"You kissed me like, a week before I left when we were eleven!"

"We were eleven! That hardly counts! We weren't even in school then! And you kissed me back!"

"We still kissed! What was that even about anyway?"

"You were leaving and I thought I'd sneak a smooch in there before you were gone forever."

"You amaze me. Didn't know you had thoughts like that back then."

"They were always there sometimes, although they were much more innocent back then. Like the thoughts I'm having now are about a million times worse than the ones I had when we were like nine."

"Merlin's beard, are you a womanizer?"

"I get around, if that's what you mean."

"If I go to Hogwarts, will I be hearing things like 'Draco Malfoy: School heart-breaker and womanizer'?"

Draco laughed at her words, "You might hear something like that, but you're a smart girl. You know not to believe everything you hear. Just most of them."

"Right. Just please don't come running up to me one day saying that you're gonna be a father before we even graduate."

"How do you know I'll even get a chance to?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"What if you knew before me?"

"How would I know before... DRACO!", she realizedwhat he meant.

He laughed at Briana as she made a shocked face. The two of them sat there for a while, neither of them saying anything.

After a couple minutes of a nice silence, Briana walked up to his bed andface-plantedonto Draco's soft and clean-smelling bed. She closed her eyes and breathed softly, enjoying the smell of his dark green and black comforter.

"What are you doing?", Draco asked her.

"Inhaling the scent of your bed."

He scrunched up his nose at her, "Why are you doing that?"

"I dunno, it just smells good. Smells like you."

"So you think I smell good?"

"Yeah, you do."

"Brilliant."

"Hey, Draco?"

"Can you please put your head up? I can barely understand you."

Briana rolled her eyes and sat up, "I have a question for you!"

"What is it, dear child?"

"What do you think is like, the best club around here?"

"The best club? That's easily_Aparecium,_which is about 15 minutes away from here. Why?"

"My best mate from America told me to get a look around and find the best club around."

"Oh, so you found someone worthy of my replacement, did you?"

"Come off it, you know I wouldn't sit there, friendless for the rest of my life, waiting to be reunited with you. Of course I'd find a best mate in America! You trying to tell me that you didn't find other friends and another best mate this whole time?"

"Of course I found other friends, I'm Draco Malfoy. And I suppose my best mate has been Blaise Zabini. He's like my brother. You know that's not what I meant anyway; you'd be barking to not get new friends, Bri."

"Yes, yes. Well that's all cleared up, but you're still my actual best friend, Draco, okay?"

"I know. You are too. But honestly, I like it better when you call me your nickname. Suits your voice better."

"Alright, Dray," she smiled, but more to herself than him. And he was smiling inside, just as brightly as she was on the outside.

Draco stood up and grabbed Briana's hands, making her stand up as well.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"We're going to our special place. I haven't been there since you left."

She gasped, "Yes! I can't wait! I almost forgot about our special place, I was so busy with you."

"We weren't doing anything that'd make you_that_busy. Not yet, anyway."

"Oh, Dray, I love you, but I'm still getting used to your maturity."

"Can't you imagine how hard it is for me? That dress looks perfect on you."

"See, now that is definitely nothing the young Dray would've said."

"Ah, but it's something this Dray would've said."

"I'll get used to it."

The pair of them walked down the stairs and to the front doors, about to leave to their very special place, the place for just the two of them.

Briana and Draco.

Not one person more, nor one person less.


	7. Chapter 6

The two best friends walked back past their backyards, far, far away, until they were in a completely different area; their special place.

Walking into it again was like some sort of story book. Both of them were mesmerized by the sight in front of them. It was a beautiful, wide field they had stumbled upon and claimed as theirs at the age of seven.

Briana got a huge smile on her face, looked at Draco and said excitedly, "Come on, Dray! We have to run the field! Please!"

He gave her a small smile and grabbed her hand, "Well let's go then!"

The two of them ran through the tall, grassy field, hand in hand, laughing all the while. They stopped at one point when they were deep into their special place and just laid down, surrounded by the tall, green grass.

Briana sighed and looked up at the sky, "I love this place." Beside her, Draco nodded, "I do too. Brings back a lot of memories."

Briana propped her head up with her hand, "You mean like that time you wouldn't stop chasing me with that spider?!"

He laughed at her brief glare, "Well I was thinking of the time I was trying to teach you how to fly, but the only flying you did was straight into that pile of mud."

Draco turned so they were face-to-face, and he admired the deep thought that showed on her face. After a few seconds she said, "Remember that time we were here and you told me you hated girlfriends?"

By the time she finished the sentence, she was smirking.

"I 'hated girlfriends'? I don't recall saying that at all."

"Yeah, you said you didn't like girlfriends because they kissed too much or something. You were so cute."

"Oh, that's when I was nine, I didn't know what I was talking about. And don't call me cute, it's sort of demeaning."

"I'll call you cute if I wish to, Dray," and she lightly poked his nose, smiling.

Draco turned to look at the sky again, but Briana continued to watch him. She began to pick a few small daises that were around them, starting to make a daisy chain. He turned back over and watched her work, reaching to pick more flowers whenever she ran out.

When he couldn't keep himself from asking any longer, Draco asked Briana a question that's been lingering in his mind, "So did you have any boyfriends, then? In America?"

Her hands stopped tying the daisies for a second, but she continued to work when she answered, "I had one for a while, but when I found out we were coming back here, I broke up with him. We're just good friends now."

"I see," he said, nodding, "So do you guys still have feelings for each other?"

She started tying a little faster, "He still has some feelings for me, and I guess I sort of do. But it's amazing because now I can't see myself being his girlfriend at all, just a friend. I really don't think he was the one. I feel we were destined to be just friends."

Her tying slowed back down as she finished her daisy chain. She put it on her head and started making another one, and he gave her more daisies, "I get it. At least it wasn't one of those devastating or violent break-ups."

She nodded, "I guess so... So do you? Have a girlfriend, I mean."

"I had one in the beginning of third year, but we only lasted for about 2 months because she was annoying as fuck and always spent my money. And from the end of third year to the beginning of fourth year, I was with Pansy Parkinson," he grimaced when he said her name.

Briana chuckled slightly, "I take it you had problems with Pansy as well?"

"Okay, well, she called me 'Drakie' and 'Drakie Poo', she practically only wanted to make out with me, she was expensive as Merlin knows what, she would cry and whine if I wanted to go to bed instead of hang out with her, and she thought I loved her and _still _thinks I'm in love with her to this very day!"

Briana copied Draco's previous pained expression, "Sounds like a charmer. Will I be meeting her atyour 'end of Summer holiday' do?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Her parents are rather good friends with my parents, no matter how much I despise her."

"Smashing, I get to meet your ruddy ex in a matter of two days."

"Lucky you."

"Is she the reason you're so much of a... what's the word...?"

"Player?"

"Yes, player. Is she the reason you're a player now? Why you get around so much?"

"Sort of. I mean, I suppose I'm just at that age where you just enjoy messing around."

"I guess I'm sort of that way myself, actually. Before I met Justin I was such a party girl. And now that we're broken up, I expect I'll be joining that life-style again."

"Sounds charming. Maybe one day you'll get to see the marvelous Malfoy in action, yeah?"

"Of course, and maybe you'll witness the brilliant Brightsman in action as well," she smiled sweetly.

"Speaking of partying and all that, I'm going to go check out that club you told me about. You want to come?"

"Honestly, that sounds delightful, but my mother has recruited me to put together the seating chart for the do, as always."

"That's alright, another day, I suppose."

Briana nodded and proceeded to tie the flowers together, her hair falling in front of her face. Draco looked over at her, "You know what I really want to do right now?" She shook her head. "I wanna take a picture of you."

"Well that's too bad, you didn't you bring a camera, Dray."

"Or did I?", he produced a camera, seemingly out of thin air. She giggled and continued to work on her chain of yellow flowers. He took the picture when she didn't even know it. Then Draco layed back down, putting the camera away.

Briana tied on the last daisy, completing her second well-made daisy chain. She looked over at Draco who was staring up at the sun and the clouds, laying on his back again. She scooted over a little and lightly sat on his stomach.

"Come on, sit up," she beckoned. He did as he was told and sat up, looking at his best friend. She set her second daisy chain around his head and smiled at him. He watched her hands as she pet his hair. He loved it when she did that.

A moment later she got off of him, for fear she might wind him if she sat there any longer. They laid side-by-side, both of them watching the clouds peacefully.

After a minute, Draco whispered, "I think I'd like to fall asleep here, Bri."

She replied just as quietly, "I think so too, Dray. But only..."

"For a while...", he finished, tiredly.

And they did, there in their special place, blanketed in the warm sun, cushioned by the field of grass, and comforted by each other's presence.


	8. Chapter 7

Briana had said good-bye to Draco, who did the same then commented on how wonderful their first day back together had been. She smiled brightly and agreed with him, then left Malfoy Manor to return to her own home.

It was half-past eight when she entered her home to find seemingly nobody else inside. One of the house elves approached her with a slightly worried look on it's face, "Raina thought Miss Brightsman was eating at the Malfoy's, miss. Master and Mistress Brightsman have already eaten and are still working, miss. Are you hungry, miss?"

"I'll just eat something small, please, Raina."

"Yes, right away, miss. Raina will set a place in the kitchen."

Briana wandered aimlessly around her house. She was still getting used to living in it again. A few minutes later, she walked over into their large kitchen and ate a small portion of spaghetti and meatballs.  
She ate her meal in silence and looked out the window. It was growing dark already, although it was still warm outdoors, since it's Summer. When Briana was done with her food, she walked up the large stairs to get ready to go out to that club Draco had told her about. She was still a bit bummed that he couldn't come with her, but she might as well make new friends anyway.  
After putting on one of her favorite (and most revealing) club dresses, she let her hair fall around her shoulders. The teenager re-applied some more mascara, put on her shoes, then walked down the stairs.

Raina ran up to her once she reached the bottom,

"Where is Miss Brightsman going, miss?"

"Tell my parents that I'm going out for a while and shouldn't expect me home until a bit after midnight."

"Raina doesn't think Master and Mistress will like Miss Brightsman going out in the dark all alone, miss."

"Oh, no, it's okay. Draco is going with me, so I won't be alone," she lied flawlessly.

"Alright then. I will tell Mistress and Master right away. Be safe, miss."

"I will. Don't worry. Goodbye now."

She left the house and began the short walk there. Draco was correct; the walk was about 12 minutes long.

After walking for several blocks in the direction of tons of lights and noise, Briana laid eyes on a bright, flashing sign that said_Aparecium_. It was dark inside, popular music blared into the night and two security guards stood at the front, clutching their wands tightly at their sides.

She walked up to the door where the guards let her enter, then she was asked to give her name and hold out her hand. They waved a wand over her outstretched hand and a glowing, cursive "A" appeared there.

"If you need to re-enter, just show them this and you'll be good to go. Only lasts until the end of the night though, so," some staff member explained the process to her.

Briana walked still further and someone took her coat and purse, stowing it away into a locker, handing her a small key to keep. She took a few more steps forward and actually entered the actual club.

There was a bar and pool tables to the left and the dance floor in the middle with the bathrooms and exit to the right. There were colored lights all around the dance floor while the pool tables and bar was dimly lit, and the bathrooms and exit were illuminated by black lights.  
_Aparecium_was packed, people were everywhere and having a good time. Her best friend was right-this club was perfect.  
After smiling to herself for a moment, Briana walked straight to the bar and got a bottle of firewhiskey. She took a sip and sat down, watching all the people for a moment, wondering what she should do first.

* * *

Blaise Zabini, Chuck Solomon and Alexander Whittaker were all playing pool in their favorite club,_Aparecium._The three of them were best friends, but there were four of them; it was just a shame that the fourth friend of the group, Draco Malfoy, was unable to come with them this time around.

Anyway, Chuck was winning brilliantly at the game of pool, even though Alexander and Blaise were both on team against him.

Chuck aimed for the eight ball and knocked it in, beating the two of them in their first round of the night, "Looks like I win, again. We should bet on these things, I could get tons of galleons from-"

"Woah, woah, woah, hot chick at 6 o'clock!", Blaise nodded across the club at a fair-skinned girl in a short tight dress that hugged her curves sitting at the bar.

Her dark brown hair fell past her shoulders as she stared around the room.

Alexander leaned on his cue stick, staring at her, "I swear we will hate ourselves for the rest of our lives if one of us doesn't talk to her."

Chuck smirked at him, "You go talk to her, Alex. You know you want to!"

Blaise joined in, "Yeah, you're always bragging about how you got the moves!"

"Fine", he sighed and gave in, standing up. His friends applauded him, mockingly.

Alexander grabbed his single malt whiskey and almost started walking over there, but Blaise held him back, "On second thought, wait until she gets over here. She's walking this way."

He looked up and indeed, the attractive female was making her way over to the pool tables where they stood.

"Maybe when she gets over here you can use one of your great and guaranteed pick-up lines, Blaise", Alexander joked.

"Challenge accepted! You're too much of a chicken to talk to her, aren't you mate?"

"You're hilarious, Zabini. I just think you stand a better chance, since you're so 'dark and mysterious'," Alexander mimicked some 4th years that were constantly talking about Blaise at Hogwarts.

"Cool it, mates. Here she comes anyway."

The girl came over and walked right past them, all three of them looking her over and liking what they saw. About two seconds after she passed, Blaise walked after her, calling, "Hey, miss! I believe you just dropped something back there."

She stopped, turned around and looked around, then looked at him, "Really? What do you think it was?"  
He walked closer to her, smirking, "My jaw."

A few feet away, Chuck and Alexander smirked, trying to keep their laughter to themselves. The girl smiled sweetly and replied, "I think you lost something back there as well."

He lightly put his hands on her hips, "And what was that?"

"Your chance with me," she smirked at him, then turned to keep walking.

Blaise's friends howled with laughter in the corner as Blaise stood with his mouth slightly ajar. He wasn't going to look like an idiot in front of his friends. He caught up with the girl and tried to gain her attention again, "Hey, miss, I wasn't trying to be disrespectful. My mates over there sort of made me use a pick-up line to start talking to you."

She turned around and smiled at him, "I had a feeling, seeing them laugh over there. I didn't really mind, I just thought you were some idiotic, egotistical douche bag."

"Nah, that's not me at all. Just sometimes. I hope, anyway. Here, let me try again. I'll go stand over there, and you casually walk by me, alright?"  
The girl laughed, "Alrighty then."

She walked past Blaise with a smile on her face and he touched her wrist, "Hey, where are you heading to?" He was good at pretending this was their first time talking.

"Nowhere in particular, just walking aimlessly around."

"Well you should come play some pool with some mates of mine and I."

"Sounds lovely", she smiled widely.

He smiled slightly and took her wrist, "You have a stunning smile, you know. My name's Blaise Zabini, by the way."

"Thank you! I'm Briana."

He nodded as he led her back over to the other side of the pool room where Alexander and Chuck had been watching from afar, somewhat confused.

Briana and Blaise approached the two of them, who both looked Briana over, happily, "Guys, this is Briana. Briana, the one on the left is Charles, but no single living person calls him that. Everyone calls him Chuck. The one on the right is Alexander, but we call him Alex, never Al. Two of my best mates."

"Lovely to meet you," she smiled politely and shook their hands.

"The pleasure's all mine," Chuck took her hand and kissed it, which she giggled at, but Alex and Blaise rolled their eyes.

Briana waited for Alex to say something to her, but he simply smiled shyly and busied himself with rolling his shirt sleeves back up.

"You play pool? I'll warn you, I beat everyone I play against, but I may go easy on you," Chuck started racking the pool balls together in the triangle.

"It's been a while, but I don't think you'll need to go easy on me."

"Looks like you've got a challenger, mate," Blaise smirked. "Teams?"

"How about you and I against Alex and miss Briana," Chuck suggested.

"Why can't I be on her team?", Blaise complained.

"Shut up and deal with it, man," Alexander spoke for the first time in front of Briana. She smiled at him.

They started the game and played for a good forty minutes before Blaise and Chuck beat Alex and Briana.

"I never lose!", Chuck cheered, high-fiving his team-mate.

"You can't deny it was an extremely close game, though!", Briana commented.

"That's true, I must give you props for that."

"I'm out of firewhiskey," Blaise complained. "Alex, be a good mate and get me some more?"

"I'll go with you, I'm all out as well."

"Okay."

Together, the pair of them wove through the crowded club and up to the bar. Alex ordered two firewhiskeys, one for Blaise, one for Briana, and two single malt whiskeys for himself and Chuck.

"You drink single malt whiskeys? That stuff's pretty strong."

Alex shrugged, "You get used to it when you drink it as much as I do."

They met back up with the others who were sitting at a table in the pool room, all of them sipping on their drinks, making small talk. At one point, a song that Briana couldn't resist dancing to came on and her body wouldn't allow her to stay seated, "Somebody! Dance with me on the dance floor this very second!"

Blaise stood up, not missing a beat, and she hastily pulled him to the dance floor where all the other people were dancing and grinding on each other. They started out dancing just normally, side-by-side, but as the song played, more and more people showed up and the dance floor was even more tightly packed than before, forcing them to dance closer and closer.

After a moment, Briana gave in, "Ah, fuck it! I'm just gonna grind on you now!"

She was a little tipsy, but not completely drunk. Blaise was falling in love with the way she was dancing on him, and after two more songs, he was completely turned on. Slightly drunk, he whispered in her ear, "Briana, just marry me already."

"Don't be silly, I hardly know you!", she giggled and pulled away from him and off the dance floor, much to Blaise's disappointment. But he just went up to another girl and immediately started dancing with her instead.

Briana sat down at the table where Alex and Chuck still resided and finished the rest of her third firwhiskey of the night.

"I don't think you should drink anymore..." Alex warned her.

"Don't worry, I'm not drunk. I'm just a little bit tipsy. I'm not going to get drunk either. That would make a horrible first impression."

"Right you are," Alex smiled.

"Hey, I just realized... Are you from out of town, because I've never seen you around before?", Chuck asked her.

"Yeah, I just moved back here. I used to live here when I was young, but moved away for a while. But now I'm back!"

"Well welcome back home, my dear."

Briana smiled, "I like you guys."

"Why's that?", Chuck smiled at her.

"I don't know. Just cause you guys are you. I kind of feel like I've been friends with you for a long time, even though I just met you guys."

"Trust me, I would remember being friends with someone like you."

"I don't know, it's just that most of the fellows in here I get a bad vibe off of and wouldn't trust them at all, but for some reason I just feel safe around you guys and know you won't harm me. Wait, I'm right about that, right?"

"Extactly right! See, we party, we drink, we get laid, but we don't harm others. Unless it's a guy who's being a git or deserves it. None of us have ever harmed a girl in any way. And I believe the only time any of us have ever hurt another male was if they deserved it, like I said. So yes, you're in good hands," Chuck gave a speech, during which Alex nodded several times.

"Well I'm very glad to hear that! Do you think-"

"Hey, will you come dance with me, lovely?", some random girl, who looked about their age, cut Briana off, asking her to dance.

"With me?", Briana asked her.

"Of course you, silly. You're extremely sexy, just like me. Now come on," this girl was drunk, but not bad-looking, and Briana has had experience with other girls before. She's not a lesbian of course, she just does things with girls for fun, once in a while.

So she got up and went to the dance floor with the girl, who asked her, "Do you have a name, by the waaayy?"

"I'm Briana, honey," she answered.

"Briana... I love it! Okay, my name's Kaylee, with a K."

"Brilliant. Now let's dance the night away, Kaylee."

And they did. They received lots of attention from some of the boys that were around and the two of them were just having fun. While they were on the dance floor, Draco Malfoy entered the club, got a single malt whiskey, and looked around his favorite club. He had finished his work sooner than he thought, then decided to come to his favorite club, where he knew Briana would be. To his surprise, he was able to locate his mates, Alex and Chuck, first.

He walked over to their table and sat down.

"Malfoy! Wasn't expecting to see you here tonight," Chuck greeted him.

"Neither was I! Got finished early, so thought I'd drop by and check on certain people."

"What certain people? You mean us?", Alex asked him.

"No, not you guys. You know my best friend who recently moved back? Well, she's here. Wanted to make sure she's okay."

"Wait a minute, your best friend's a girl?!", Chuck asked surprised.

"Yes? Didn't I tell you that?"

"No! I always assumed it was some bloke, you know. Well where is she?!", Chuck wanted to meet her right away.

"I don't know, I've tried to spot her, but there's so many people, you know.."

Alex had a feeling he knew who Draco's best friend was, "Is her name Briana?"

"Um, yes, it is. Why? Have you met her?"

"No way! Dude, that Briana chick is your best friend?! She's been hanging with us like, all night!", Chuck was mind-blown at this point.

"Really?! See, she has great taste in company. Wait, where is she now then?"

"She's been dancing with that Kaylee girl from school for the past 10 minutes," Alex pointed.

"Merlin's beard, what is she wearing?"

"Why? Do you not approve?"

"No, I greatly approve, it's not_that_ looks... wonderful. I'm just not used to seeing her in anything like that."

"Well get used to it, because here she comes," Chuck smirked happily.

After dancing for a while, Briana brought Kaylee back to the table she was sitting at before. She was surprised to see the white-blonde hair of her best friend sitting there with her two new friends. She gave him a hug then sat down, "Draco, what are you doing here?!"

"Mother's work was easier than I imagined, so here I am. You're not drunk are you?"

"Don't be bonkers, my two good friends here have been taking good care of me," she motioned to Chuck and Alex.

"They better have! Other than you, these two are my best mates, you know."

"Honestly?! This is a small world.. Blaise too? I don't know where he's gone off to, but he's the one I met first."

"Yes, I told you about Blaise, remember?"

"You know I'm not very good with names the first time around, but I knew I'd heard his name before..."

Kaylee couldn't contain herself any longer, "Brriiiaaaannnaaaaa, stop talking and kiss me again!"

Briana smirked at the still, legitimately drunk girl,"Come here then, you."

Then, much to the three boys surprise, (though the most surprised was Draco) Kaylee sat on Briana's lap, and the two of them began making out. Now, don't get the wrong impression. Briana Brightsman is not a lesbian. She's not even bisexual. She just sometimes has fun with people the same sex as her. It wasn't all that big of a deal to her.

Draco, Chuck and Alex all watched intently with growing interest, although in the back of all their minds, there was a part of them that said to look away. They all chose to ignore it. A few minutes later, Kaylee smiled and simply walked away, never to be seen again that night.

Briana turned back to the table with her eyes cast down, and took the last sip of her firewhiskey. When she finally looked back up at the three boys across from her, Chuck smirked at her, Alex looked down at his hands and Draco gave her a look she couldn't quite decode.

"Do you always do that?", Chuck asked her.

"Not always, just everyone once in a long while for fun."

"Well be sure to invite me when it happens again okay?"

When he said that, Draco smacked the back of his head.

Briana smiled, but rolled her eyes, "So anyways, do you guys all go to Hogwarts?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah, every one of us. All about to be 6th year Slytherins."

"So is that Kaylee girl you were sucking face with," Draco commented.

"Oh, well good to know I'll have plenty of friends before I even start the term."

"Not like you couldn't make lots of friends quickly anyway. But we have to tell you about all the people to stay away from," Chuck said.

"Oh yeah? Like who?"

"All the Hufflepuffs. Basically all the Gryffindors, with the exception of maybe one or two. Feel free to hang with almost any Ravenclaw, but remember that your main priority is Slytherin, okay?", Chuck explained.

"But mostly we should warn you to stay away from the bad males of Hogwarts. You know, like the kind who'll rape pretty girls like you, or break your heart, or your bones," Draco added.

Briana's eyes widened, "There's really people that bad at your school? That's terrible!"

"Precisely. See, there are boys who get around and do stuff like the bad males of Hogwarts, and there's the boys who get around but are completely respectable, like us!", beamed Chuck.

"Sounds like I've made the right friends! And if you're all friends of Draco's then you can't be bad. Orthatbad, anyways."

Briana started engaging in a conversation with Chuck and Alex about the teachers at Hogwarts and such while Draco noticed a group of boys from Beauxbatons constantly looking over at Briana. He tried to give them a look to warn them not to come over to them, but the Beauxbatons boys never looked at him; only at Briana.

He'd hoped they wouldn't bother to walk across the room and to their table, but his hopes were turned to dust as they grabbed their own drinks and began to walk across the room, never taking their eyes off of Briana.

_There's no way this will turn out well._


	9. Chapter 8

A group of four Beauxbatons boys made its way across the room and up to the table where Briana, Draco, Alex and Chuck sat together. Draco shot them glares as Chuck and Alex watched the boys intently. Briana was confused.

"Can we help you with something?," Draco asked as they approached his best friend.

"I'm not here to talk to you, I'm here to talk to this fine lady," said one of them in a thick French accent, gesturing to Briana.

Recognizing their accent to be French, Briana stepped in, speaking their language, "Oui, que voulez-vous?" (Yes, what would you like?)

The main boy who spoke before got a delighted look on his face, then replied, "Vousparlez très bien français. C'est très impressionnant. Mon nom est Christian. Et le vôtre?" (You speak French very well. That's impressive. My name is Christian. Yours?)

"Mon nom est Briana. Pourquoi venez-vousme parler?" (My name is Briana. Why have you come to talk to me?)

"What are you guys saying?", Chuck wondered.

"Since when did you speak French, Bri?!", Draco asked her.

But they were ignored. Instead, Christian just answered Briana's question, much to Chuck's relief, in English.

"I was just wondering if you would like to join us for the night, spending time with much better company...", he threw a dirty look at Draco and the others.

Chuck and Draco tried to control their tempers.

Briana replied, "Thank you for that offer, but I'm rather enjoying the company I have now."

"I don't think you know what you'll be missing, my dear."

"I think she knows that she'll be missing a lot of nonsense and pointless shit," Draco cut across.

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut, you filthy boy," Christian glared at him.

"You should learn to stay home in France, you idiotic git," Draco stood up, glaring back at him.

Alex and Briana both began to worry. Alex tried to reason, "Hey, there's no reason to fight about it. Draco, calm down, whatever-your-name-is, just leave and we can avoid all this nonsensical arguing."

Christian shot a dirty look all across the table, then left with the three friends of his.

"We could not get rid of them fast enough. Thanks for that, Alex," Chuck said, drinking the last of his drink.

"I didn't like them very much...", Briana commented.  
"See what we mean about other boys though? Who knows what would've happened if you'd gone with them?", Chuck said.

"Well, now, I don't think you can be thatjudgmental, I mean we don't even know what they were doing or are going to do," pointed out Alex.

"Alex. They were Beauxbatons. Remember the Beauxbaton boys from 4th year?", Draco said.

"...yeah, I guess that's true. But still, those Beauxbaton boys could have been completely different."

"Who knows. When it's said and done, Briana made a good decision to stay with people she knows," Draco stated.

"But she just met us tonight," Alex said.

"But she's known Draco for years," Chuck finalized.

Briana cut in, "You guys, shush please! I'm here, so that's all that really matters, yeah?"

The boys all nodded and sat around for a minute.

* * *

"What do you guys wanna do now?", Chuck asked them, looking around at his friends.

"Take me around," Briana suddenly said, standing up.

"What?", Alex asked.

"You guys, the three of you, take me around to your favorite places here in town."

"I'm greatly offended that you said 'the three of you', but I still think it's a great idea," a bored-looking Blaise suddenly appeared behind Briana.

"There you are! Well, it's not my fault you disappear for an hour or two!"

"Come on then! Stop chit-chatting, we've got many places to take you, Bri," Draco took her hand and led her out of the club with the rest following closely behind, picking up their coats on their way out.

The cold night air hit their skin as they all stood at the end of the block, looking around. Briana turned around and smiled at the four boys. Her four friends.

"What are you smiling at?", Blaise questioned her as he buttoned up his coat.

"You guys," she answered simply. "So where are we going first?"

"Let's go to my favorite place first," Chuck said, starting to lead the way, taking Briana with him.

"No objections," Alex said, following.

"Alright, well let's get a move on then," Blaise walked too, pulling Draco with him.

"Calm yourself, Blaise. The night is still young," Briana said.

The group of five walked through the streets of their hometown, together and happy.

They may not have known it yet, but this would be the first of many great nights that would build their long, durable friendship.


	10. Chapter 9

Chuck led his four friends through the town, down several streets until 10 minutes later, they'd arrived downtown. There were quite a few cars still driving around, as well as parked ones. Several businesses were still open, even though it was a quarter til midnight.

"Alright Chuck, where is it?", Briana asked him.  
"We're almost there; we just need to turn right here..."

They turned right and walked for less than a minute longer when Chuck stopped and gestured to a rather large, blue-painted building he was standing in front of. Briana read the giant sign that hovered nicely in front of the building:_INCENDIO:THE BEST HOT TUBS IN ALL OF LONDON_.

There was a slightly smaller sign floating under that one that read:_Clothing optional_. Briana laughed at this.

"Seriously, mate? Incendio is your favorite place in town?", Draco asked.

"When we pass this on our way to the Leaky Cauldron, you say you know nothing about it," Alex added.  
"It's complicated. At any rate, this does happen to be my favorite place in town," Chuck smiled.

"Well come on, then. Let's go in!", Blaise pushed past them and opened the door.

The rest of the group followed him into Incendio, waiting for Chuck to lead them. Nobody knew what to do except for Chuck. The inside was decorated like a Japanese restaurant. There were koi ponds around, tons of little plants, paper lanterns floating in the air, candles everywhere, lots of sliding screen doors and shamisen music was playing softly. A small Asian woman approached the teenagers, and apparently recognized Chuck.

"So good to see you again! These are all your friends?", she asked, smiling.

"Every single one of them. Thought I'd bring them with me for once."

"Of course, of course! So do you want private room or to go in the public community room?"

"Think we'll go with a private room this time around."

"Alright! Follow me, this way."

The woman scurried down a hallway, past several screen doors on the sides. At the other end of the all, behind them, Briana noticed a particularly large screen with a sign that said "COMMUNITY ROOM". The group continued to follow the lady until she stopped at a screen door, slid it open and gestured them inside. All five of them entered.

"You know what to do. Have a good time. House elf will come bring tea in a minute," the woman nodded and began walking away, after shutting the door.  
"Thanks Ms. Fujiwara," Chuck nodded at the woman.

Looking around, it was a fairly simple, small, nice room. There was a wooden floor and bamboo walls, there were small cherry blossoms in the corners, candles strewn around on the floor, a giant photograph of a Japanese girl in a kimono hung on one wall. There was a table with five, large, green and black towels sitting on it, as well as, of course, the fancy, giant hot tub in the center of the room.

Briana looked around in wonder, "This is extremely nice, Chuck. I like it!"

"I'd have to agree, mate. Pretty brilliant in here," Blaise agreed.

"What's this thing for?", Alex had found a dial on a wall next to the hot tub.

"Ah, now that controls the jets and bubbles," Chuck explained proudly.

"Sweet!", Alex messed around with it a bit and soon the jets were on in the tub and there were green bubbles in it as well.

A house elf suddenly came in and handed Chuck a tray that held five cups of steaming tea and a teapot. He thanked the house elf and scurried away again. He put the tray down next to the tub and everyone stood around for a minute.

"Wait, so how exactly does this work?", Draco asked.

"Pretty simple; you come in, ask for either a private room or to just use the community room. You go in and do what you do, then when you're ready to leave, Ms. Fujiwara waves a wand over your hand and that somehow tells her how long you stayed, and that decides how much you pay. Then you leave!", he explained the process easily.

"Sounds simple enough," Briana commented.

Suddenly, all at once, Alex, Blaise, Chuck and Draco were all stripping down to nothing but their boxer shorts, then all four climbed happily into the hot water, relaxing and getting comfortable. Briana stood off to the side, kind of looking around awkwardly. Surely she wasn't changing in front of them! She was afraid they would see.. certain things that nobody could know about...

The boys seemed to suddenly remember she was there as they all looked up at her.  
Chuck smirked, "The time has come, my dear."

"Do you guys have to watch me?", Briana asked slowly, taking her shoes off.  
"You do have clothes on underneath that dress, right?", Blaise questioned.  
"Don't be barking, of course I do! Now all of you turn around and close your eyes."  
"Fine..."

The four boys all did as they were told, turning around and shutting their eyes as Briana quickly took off her dress and sat down across from them in the hot tub.

"Alright, you can stop now," she told them, smiling.

Thanks to the many bubbles, when she sat down, all you could see of her was what wasn't submerged in water, which at this point was just from the collar bone and up.

"If any of you have ever wondered why I hate bubbles, this is why," Chuck half-joked.  
Blaise laughed and Draco splashed some water at him.  
"So why is this your favorite place, anyway?", Alex asked Chuck.

"That's an easy question; he likes it for the girls, of course," said Draco.

Chuck smirked, "That's just a bonus. I mostly come here by myself once in a while, just to get away from it all, you know? Nothing to worry about when I'm here. I feel like I've escaped from all my troubles, even if just for a moment, when I'm here."

Briana smiled. Blaise commented, "Wow. I can't believe that just came out of your mouth."

"Believe it, mate. Never judge anyone too quickly," Chuck smirked lightly.

The five friends sat in a comfortable, relaxed silence for a few minutes, when Blaise finally broke the silence, "Briana, what's that charm on your necklace?"

Opening her eyes, Briana took the charm in her two fingers and played with it, answering, "It's a flower. Called a forget-me-not."

Nodding, Blaise further questioned, "I see, so did one of your friends in America give it to you before you left?"

She smiled, "Guess again."

Blaise's eyes flickered over to Draco, whose eyes were downcast, "Really? Draco, you gave her that necklace?"

Looking up, Draco answered, "Yeah, when I first heard news she was leaving me, I asked my mother to help me pick out a gift for her. In the end, I chose that forget-me-not flower, for obvious reasons..."

"Merlin's beard, I can't believe it! Draco Malfoy's had feelings before," Chuck commented.

"Come off it, mate," Draco waved him away, smirking slightly,"I'm actually surprised you haven't lost that after all these years, Bri."

"I've never taken it off, Draco," she answered him, now looking down at the necklace, herself.

If anyone had bothered to take a look at Draco at that moment, they would've noticed the short, but very happy, big and genuine smile that he'd had on his face when those words went through his ears and his brain made sense of them. Fascinating how a few simple words can cause such big emotion in people.

* * *

"Chuck I really like you right now, for choosing this place as you favorite; I love it here!", Briana told him.

"Yeah, I know. It's the first thing I thought of. My rule is, if it's the first thing that comes to mind, it's the one you think or care about most, so..", he explained.

"All my mates are turning soft on me, it's kind of creeping me out...", Blaise chuckled.  
"That's what she said...", Chuck couldn't keep himself from commenting.  
"Seriously, man?", Draco laughed.

"Hey, guys, look...", Briana gestures towards Alex, who was asleep.

Draco smirked, "I hadn't even noticed he'd fallen asleep, he's pretty quiet in public places."  
"I don't really think your presence really helps, either, Briana," Blaise said, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"I feel the greatest urge to pull a prank on him or something of that sort...", Chuck got an evil glint in his eye.

Draco and Blaise knew well enough to know that evil little glint Chuck got in his eyes meant some sort of trouble was going to happen. Well, that is, if someone like Briana isn't around to stop him. But, fortunately for Alex, Briana was around to stop Chuck from causing mischief.  
"No! Chuck, don't be mean!", she stared at Alex.

"Aww, come on! Opportunity's knocking!"

"Well, tell opportunity that nobody's home. How could you ever prank him?Look at him, he looks like such an angel!"

Chuck considered, "Fine, whatever, you win this time. But know this! I won't be so nice next time, I'm just giving you a free-pass because it's your first night with us. So don't get used to it, honey."

Briana smiled, "I'll keep that in mind, deary."

They all sat around in another comfy silence for quite a few minutes longer, when Alex was suddenly awake. He said, "Shouldn't we be leaving? I mean, if we're gonna go to all of our favorite places, we should get a move on, yeah?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Exactly right, sleeping beauty. Come on you guys."

"Wait, shouldn't we let Briana get out first, since she'sfor some reason so self-conscious?", Blaise asked.

Briana rolled her eyes, "I'm not self-conscious! I just don't particularly like you guys staring at.. my lady parts." They didn't see through her lies.

Again, the four boys turned around and closed their eyes, while Briana got out, dried off then put her dress back on. Chuck, Blaise, Draco and Alex got out as well, and copied in the same fashion. They paid Ms. Fujiwara, then walked back out into the cold night air.

Briana looked around, "So... Where to now, boys?"

"Mine.. Mine is close, so let's go...", Alex began to lead the way to his favorite place in town, with his four very good friends behind him.

One down, three to go.


	11. Chapter 10

Alexander Whittaker led his friends just a couple minutes walk away to the Leaky Cauldron, which was surprisingly busy, for the time it was.

"Here we are," he announced, turning around to his friends, then looking down at the ground.

"The Leaky Cauldron? This is your favorite place?", Chuck asked him, eyebrows raised.

"Obviously, if I took you here," he retorted. Beside him, Blaise chuckled, "Well let's not stand around in the cold, let's go on in."

The group of five swung open the door and looked around. Most of the tables were taken up, and all of them were surprised with the amount of people.

"Anyone got any idea why the extensive amount of people tonight?", Draco asked.

Briana spotted the culprit. "Found it!", she pointed to a small, swinging chalkboard hanging in the window that read:_Drinks half-off after 1am_

They all grunted in understanding. Alex asked, "It's already after 1am?"

"It's 1:09, bro," Draco confirmed. "You should go get us some drinks while we get a table."

Briana gave Draco a firm look, "Draco, I don't exactly think more alcohol is what any of us need right now."

He frowned, while Chuck and Blaise chuckled. "You better listen to mummy, little Draco," Chuck teased.

"Yeah, I wouldn't cross her," Blaise agreed, still slightly laughing.

"Shut up, you brown-nosers," he sneered at them.

"Right, I'll just order butterbeers, then...", Alex walked off and the other four went to find a table.

They were able to find a booth large enough for their group, off in one of the corners. Even though the place was almost filled with people, the Leaky Cauldron wasn't all that noisy. It was a rather comfortable placed to be settled in. After the four of them had taken their seats, Alex approached them with five butterbeers in his hands.

The five teenagers sat together, observing the other people in the environment, drinking their butterbeers happily. At one point, Blaise looked at Alex expectantly, "So?"

"So what?", Alex asked, confused.

"So, why is the Leaky Cauldron, of all places, your favorite place?", Blaise elaborated.

"Because, I used to come here all the time with my parents when I was really little. Plus it's where I met you guys, five years ago," he smiled to himself.

"Ah, yes, back when we were juvenile delinquents," Chuck smirked, apparently recalling fond memories of his younger years.

"What do you mean, 'back when', you guys are still juvenile delinquents!", Briana laughed.

"We may be delinquents, but we're not juvenile! Somewhat immature at times, but never juvenile," Draco retaliated.

"Exactly, thank you for that, Draco! And by the way, I'm pretty sure you're a delinquent too, Briana, so don't try and act like the innocent one of the group," Chuck eyed the top of her dress, as Briana followed his gaze, then gave him a sneer as she self-consciously pulled the top of her dress up.

* * *

Briana stood up, "I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to the loo."

"Be any longer than 5 minutes and I'm coming in there," Draco warned her. She smiled at him sweetly, then left to the restroom.

The front door swung open and the four boys instinctively whipped their heads around to see who was there. To there dismay, it turned out to be two out of three people who made up the so-called golden trio; Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. They also seemed to be accompanied by Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. A classic group of four Gryffindor boys.

"Oh brilliant, just who I wanted to see," Blaise mumbled, drinking more of his beverage.

"I never thought I'd see those four out this late, ever," Chuck commented, surprised by their appearance.

"Yeah, well I don't want them here," Draco was unhappy.

Alex stared at Draco, "Hate to break it to you, mate, but you can't exactly make them leave."

"I think we'll be able to find a way," he replied, standing up. He motioned for Chuck to follow him, which he gladly did; Chuck loved a bit of drama, here and there.

The Gryffindors were still standing in front of the door, their eyes searching for an empty table big enough for their group, when Chuck and Draco approached them.

Seamus rolled his eyes and loudly exhaled, "Fantastic, just who we wanted to see tonight."

"What do you want, Malfoy, Solomon?", Harry asked them, trying not to act too annoyed by their presence.

"You could lose the attitudes, we were only wondering what you four were doing out this late?", Draco asked, barely interested in their answer.

"We could ask the same of you two. Isn't it past your bed time?", Ron attempted to insult them, but they only laughed.

"Nice try, Weaselbee. Unlike you lot, we're sane enough to hold our own without out mothers telling us what to do," Chuck laughed lightly as Ron glared heavily at him.

"And if it's any of your business, we've just been showing an old friend of mine around town," said Draco.

"Well if he's anything like your new friends, we should be going," Harry mumbled.

"She, Potter. As in female. And exactly right, it's about time you cretins walked out. We don't want to have to send you home, crying to your mummies."

At this point, they were extremely angered, especially Ron, who retorted, "Oh, a female friend! Why am I not surprised? Did you have to sleep with her to make her hang out with you for a day?"

"No, actually Ron, I think it's just another one of his usual sluts that just follows him around everywhere, like Parkinson," Seamus laughed.

That comment made Chuck angry and Draco furious, and just as Draco was about to do something, Briana appeared between him and Chuck.

"What's going on here?", she looked between the two of them with her eyes slanted, then turned to look at Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus. Her eyes widened for a second, upon realizing who Draco and Chuck were interacting with, then whipped her head back around to her two friends. Briana was aware of the fact that Draco didn't like Harry; he'd told her before, so she knew something bad was going down.

Without thinking, she told her best friend, "Dray, I know you don't like these people, but is a confrontationnecessary?"

He protectively put an arm around her waist pulled her close to him, eyeing his enemies the whole time.

Chuck answered her, "We were just trying to get them to leave, so we wouldn't have to be in the same building as gits quite yet."

She looked up at him, "But shouldn't we be going now, anyways? We have a few other places to go."

"Fine, whatever, we'll leave. Whatever it takes to get out of their company," Draco motioned to Blaise andAlex that it was time for their departure.

Chuck pushed past them rudely, while Briana smiled at the group of Gryffindors, "Place is all yours now."

Pulling her out of the Leaky Cauldron with him, Draco commented, "I know it's in your nature Bri, but stop being so nice to them."

She mouthed the word "sorry" to them before she and the others in her group were standing outside in the cold night air.

Ron, Seamus, Dean and Harry were all extremely surprised about how nice and actually decent looking (in this lighting, anyways) Draco's friend was. But more than anything else, they were shocked at how easily she was able to control Draco and his friend, Chuck. The four of them stared around at each other for a moment, then finally sat down at a table.

Outside, the group of five were discussing what just happened. Blaise was laughing at the whole scene, "That was hilarious. You guys were hilarious. I could tell you were going to murder someone, Draco. But then Briana came in, and she has complete control over you. Well, almost, but not completely."

"If Briana had come a minute later, she would have found the lot of them bloodied up and on the floor. The things they were saying...", Draco trailed off, getting angered again.

Chuck put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, man, it's all over now, right? What's done is done, we have all school again in less than a month, we can get them back then, yeah?"

Draco nodded, while Briana hugged him, trapping his arms, trying to calm him down as well.

Alex thought of something that he hoped would make Draco a bit more peaceful once again, "Draco, why don't you take us to your favorite place now?"

Briana let go of him and grinned, "Yeah, that sounds wonderful! Come on, it'll take your mind off this."

Draco nodded, "Alright, come on you lot."

He started walking ahead and the rest followed closely. Chuck couldn't help from commenting, "See, if it weren't for us, you'd still be very worked up and whatnot."

"Shut it, Solomon," he smirked lightly.

"Ah, what would you do without us?", Blaise chuckled again, causing Alex and Briana to laugh along with him.

And they were on their way to Draco's favorite place.

Two down, two to go.


	12. Chapter 11

As Draco was taking his friends to his favorite location in London, he wasn't fully aware of where exactly he was leading them to; his feet just started walking in a direction on their own. It was as if his body knew exactly where to go to get to his favorite place, while his mind was trying to think of where that place was.

It wasn't until 15 minutes later that Draco realized where they were going. His favorite place was the fair grounds where the Annual Fairylights Festival was held twice a year: once in the Summer, and once in the Winter.

Upon the revelation of where he was heading to, Draco's mind wandered to the memories of his first time attending the festival, back when he was 6 years old. It was the middle of the Summer, and while Lucius was away at work, Narcissa had decided to take her cherished son to the 189th annual Fairylights Festival. She had gone numerous times in her younger days, many of those times with Lucius.

Narcissa smiled as little Draco pulled her from one attraction to the next until he was too hungry to drag her anywhere else. They stopped to get hot dogs and candy apples as the two of them sat to enjoy their food. A very happy, little Draco got interested when his mother started speaking to him about her times at the festival.

"Your father and I used to come to this very festival all the time, back when we were at Hogwarts," she told him, smiling fondly. "These candy apples were your father's favorite."

"So everyone brings their girlfriend here? I keep seeing people kiss, and it's disgusting," he stuck out his tongue, then continued eating.

Narcissa laughed, "Not everyone, people come with friends and family too. Like you and I, right now."  
"Can we come here every time it happens? We should bring father, too! All three of us."

"Of course you and I can, but I don't think your father would ever join us, dear."

Draco frowned, "Why not?"

"He's... different now. He has a lot of work he has to do, you know. And he doesn't like such crowds," she sighed, slightly frowning.

"But I thought you said you guys came here all the time, mummy?"

"Perhaps we could ask him when we get home. For now, you need to wipe off your face and we can go on more rides, okay love?"

"Okay! Come on, we need to go on the Ferris Wheel now!", he grabbed his mother's hand and pulled her along with him again.

Hours later when the pair of Malfoy's returned home, Draco was excited to tell his father about his day and to ask him to join them at the Winter festival. But instead of doing such things, Draco was called by his mother to meet the new neighbors who were moving into the house next door.

* * *

Draco's flashbacks were interrupted when Briana exclaimed, "I think I know where we're going! Oh Merlin!"

"Well are we almost there, then?!", Chuck asked.

"Yeah, we've been walking for half an hour," Blaise complained.

"Stop your whining, it's right there, across the street," Draco pointed to a great, gigantic open field with a few large bodies of water splattered around it, the whole fantastically huge area surrounded by tall, black gates. On the front, a large sign read_Annual London Fairylights Festival_.

As they approached the fairgrounds, Briana squealed and squeezed Draco's arm, "I knew it! Took me a long while, but I figured we were coming here!"

"I've never been to this festival before," Alex said quietly, gazing at the great mass of land behind the gates.

"What?!", Blaise looked at him crazily, "Even I've been here 3 or 4 times with Draco and my sister!"

"First time here, I was 4. I've been to almost every single one since then," Chuck confessed.

"Draco and his mum took me here for my first time when I was 6. It was the Winter one. Draco and I went to every single one after that together, except for ONCE. And then I moved of course... So I haven't been here in years!", Briana shared.

"Wow, now I really feel out of the loop...", Alex said.  
Chuck nodded at him, "We're bringing you next time, for sure."

The group of five observed the grounds before them in silence for a few minutes until Blaise asked the constant question, "So why's this your favorite place?"

Still looking out at the grounds, Draco answered him, "My first time here, I was 6 years old. One of the best days of my life, considering I met Briana later that day. And I met Chuck here when I was 10. And all-in-all, most of my best memories are here. My mother and I used to always come here, just the two of us..."

His four friends watched him as he continued to stare out at the fairgrounds, obviously having deep thoughts and memories playing in his head. Nobody said anything for a while, and Briana silently begged for Chuck to make some sort of joke to lighten up the mood, since he was so comical.

He must have had the same idea, because he finally broke the silence, "Since all of us have such fond memories of this place, it seems imperative that we take Alex with us so he can have memories too, yeah?"

Briana sighed with relief as Alex smiled and Blaise laughed loudly, saying, "Yeah like, Draco, remember that one time when we watched Chuck try to pick up those girls, and they pushed him into the lake?"

Draco laughed lightly, recalling that day as Chuck frowned and rolled his eyes, making Alex and Briana laugh as well.

Trying to keep the happy memory train going, Briana said, "Do you remember when we came for the last time together, to the Summer one when we were 11, and we were obsessed with daring each other to do stuff?"

Briana interrupted herself by laughing too hard at the memory to finish her story.

"And?! What happened?!", Chuck pressed.

Draco laughed with Briana as he finished the story, "Since we were obsessed with daring each other to do things, she dared me to enter a pie eating contest where I got last place and threw up everything. And I dared her to enter the dancing contest they were having, which... she got second place in... but we went the whole day daring each other to do really weird but hilarious stuff. It was great!"

Briana and Draco's laughs made Alex laugh too. Blaise sighed and tried to keep himself from laughing, as Chuck smiled at his friend's happiness. Their laughter died down and Briana wiped a tear that was on her cheek from laughing too hard.

"Can I tell you guys something?", Chuck asked, catching everyone off-guard.

"Of course. What is it?", Draco asked, interested in what he had to say.

Chuck thought a moment more about what he was about to say, then decided against it. "Never mind," he said, sitting on the street curb, "I forgot what I was gonna say."

Briana and Blaise sat down next to him as Blaise said quietly, "That's a load of bull, Chuck, and you know it. Now suck it up and just say what you were gonna say."

Chuck sighed and shrugged, then said, "I was just gonna say that I really have been having a great time with all four of you. And I actually think that the five of us will be friends for a really long time."

Blaise made a snoring sound to tease him while Alex laughed and Chuck pushed Blaise over, making him laugh too. Draco smiled and rustled Chuck's hair, and Briana "aww'd", giving Chuck a side hug.

Chuck smiled slightly, "Shut up you guys. Now anyways, isn't it about time we went to a certain somebody's favorite place now?"

"Oh yeah! Zabini, you're up!", Draco patted him on the shoulder.

The five friends stood up as Blaise led the way, in a seemingly random direction.

"Do we have to walk faaarrr?", Briana pouted.

"Uh, it's right by my house, so I'd say it's about a 30 minute walk," Blaise estimated.

The boys laughed as Briana dramatically fell to the floor.

"Bri, do you want me to carry you?", Draco offered her.

She smiled weakly at him, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm wearing a dress."

From the back of the group, Chuck quietly said, "No one's stopping you from just taking it off..."

Alex and Blaise laughed as Draco thumped his head and Briana laughed saying, "In your wildest dreams, Solomon."

The group of five walked the half hour journey to Blaise's favorite place. On the walk, they told funny stories, sang a song they all knew, and at one point, Chuck and Blaise picked up Briana and hauled her over their shoulders as she screamed and laughed at the same time, the whole thing making Alex and Draco howl with laughter. The thirty minute walk seemed more like ten minutes. Time flies when you're enjoying yourself.

Three down, one to go.


	13. Chapter 12

Everyone was growing tired. It was understandable, considering the fact that they'd been walking around to several different locations for about three hours or so. It had been a long night, but none of them complained because they knew that in the end, the destination was always worth the walk.

They had finally reached Blaise's special spot in what felt like ten minutes. The journey, in truth, was about forty minutes long, but nobody felt it was that long because they were talking so much and whatnot the whole time. You know the old saying, "Time flies when you're having fun"? Well, that saying is certainly true.

Blaise held his arm out in front of their walking group, as if to prevent them from going any further. Briana looked ahead and saw a great field surrounded by a large white gate. It was extremely dark by this hour, so you couldn't really see very far. The field was basically as a field should be, practically just a bunch of grass, except for the three gigantic trees in the middle of it. There was what seemed to be a pond with a bench next to it about ten feet away from the trees.

It was an understated beauty, that field. Simple, but beautiful. Briana had to smile at it, because it looked like a rather interesting place to choose as a favorite, and she immediately wondered about the stories behind this mysterious field. After a moment of thoughts to herself, Briana was taken from her contemplating when she heard Draco speak next to her.

"What? This is your favorite place? You do realize this is your backyard, Blaise?", he said, confused.

"This is your backyard?!", Briana asked excitedly and slightly surprised.

"Do you think I'm mad? Of course I know this is my backyard. Let's just get to the main point of coming here, there's something very specific about this place that makes it my favorite," Blaise rolled his eyes at Draco.

Blaise unlocked the gate door and the five of them walked through the field of grass, which Briana noticed was wet, when the tall, green blades tickled her bare legs. One could also tell the grass was wet when Chuck slipped on it, in the back of the group, causing everyone to laugh; including himself. Blaise led the group to the center of the three trees, like they thought he would. But what they couldn't see from afar was the fact that there was a ladder on the middle tree.

"Wait, so is this like a tree house?!", Chuck asked Blaise, eagerly.

"Yeah, you could say that," he smiled.

Chuck smiled widely at him, then immediately began to climb up. Draco followed him, followed by Alex, then Blaise. Briana went last because she was wearing a dress.

* * *

Briana had expected there to be game systems or televisions or something grand like that when she reached the top, but like the field, thetree housewas an understated amazement. It held a couch, two chairs, a coffee table, a hammock and a fireplace. There were four walls, one with a window, and a floor, with a small opening that was the entrance/exit.

The tree house had no ceiling, which all four of Blaise's friends found a little odd. What if it rained? But perhaps the things that made it the most amazing were the little lights that hung around the branches that wove in and out around the tops of tree house. They added a soft glow to the room that made it all work.

They were all speechless. Alex and Draco sat on the couch while Chuck migrated towards a chair and Briana took the floor. Blaise stood standing and stared at his friends, "So what do you think?"

"I think it's breathtaking," Briana told him, looking around again.

"It's better than my favorite place," Chuck complimented.

"I love it," said Alex.

"Can I rent this place from you?," Draco asked, seriously.

Blaise smiled, "I'm glad you guys like it so much. But, it gets better..."

"Bullshit, it's already brilliant!", Chuck stared at him.

"Just watch," Blaise smirked.

"Seriously? I'm gonna die," Briana said quietly.

Blaise simply turned out the little lights that illuminated the room, and the only light left was given from the stars. They all stared up at the beautiful, starry sky. This was why there was no ceiling. All five of them, Alex, Blaise, Briana, Chuck and Draco, were looking at a sight they would never ever forget. Looking straight up at the sky from the inside of the tree house was the most amazing thing.

The way the bright blue, yellow and white stars lit up the dark blue/black sky, framed by the leaves from the trees was brilliant. Words could not do the sighting justice. And that's just why nobody was talking. The only sound of the breeze rustling the leaves added to the whole effect, and Blaise's friends were all speechless.

Chuck was the first person to speak again, "So I think it's pretty obvious why this is your favorite place..."

"It really is magnificent, Blaise," Briana agreed. Alex just kept nodding and staring silently at the stars above.

"Yeah, it's pretty brilliant," Blaise smiled again.

"So how long have you been keeping this a secret from us, hmm?", Draco queried.

"I built it when I was in third year, so it's not even that old, Malfoy," replied Blaise.

"So what do you do when you come up here?", asked Briana.

"Sleep. Or just sit and think. Or look at the sky. Or read. Or... do.. other things.. It just depends."

Draco was curious, "How often would you say you come up here?"

Blaise looked thoughtful, then answered, "It really varies. I basically come up here whenever I'm feeling very strongly, whether it's anger, happiness, sadness or confusion, I chill out up here, and usually things get a bit easier."

"Like a sanctuary," Chuck nodded.

"Exactly."

"Well this hands-down beats the rest of our favorite places," Draco commented.

"I fully agree," Chuck nodded again.

"Well thanks," Blaise smiled.

There was a minute of silence again, before Briana suddenly outburst, "Awww, look! Alex is asleep again!"

And indeed, Alex had fallen asleep on the couch, looking up at the diamonds in the sky. Chuck rolled his eyes, "This guy... He's been falling asleep almost everywhere we go."

"Come on now, you can't blame him. It's super late," Draco chimed in.

"Oh shit! I was supposed to be home probably like ten hours ago!", Briana put her hands on her head in worry.

"You always exaggerate numbers, ten hours ago you were still at my house," Draco gave her a look.

"Right, well at any rate, people should be getting home. Briana and Draco, I'll arrange for a car to take you two home. I'll let Alex stay the night, Chuck you wanna stay too?", Blaise organized everything out.

"I'd love to, but I promised Cat that I'd be home tonight," Chuck shrugged.

"Who's Cat?", Briana quietly asked Draco, who explained that Cat was Chuck's five year old sister.

Blaise woke up Alex and all five of them climbed back down the ladder from Blaise's sanctuary and down to the ground. From the backyard, Blaise led his friends across the field and into his house through the back door. They were sure to keep their voices hushed, as Blaise's parents and older sister were asleep upstairs. Briana, Chuck and Draco said goodbye to Blaise and Alex. Briana gave both of them very big hugs and told the pair of them that she was glad they were her friends and that she was excited to make many more memories with them.

Alex and Blaise went upstairs as the other three exited the house and stood in the driveway, as two cars pulled up into it. Briana also gave Chuck a gigantic hug and thanked him for everything, mostly his sense of humor, which he retorted with stating the fact that Briana's friendship to him was sure to "take him to new heights", as he so maturely put it.

Chuck then climbed into his designated car, Draco and Briana doing the same. After pulling out of the driveway, the two cars went their separate ways.

In the back of the car, Briana closed her eyes and thought deeply about all the interesting adventures and stories this night held. She was extremely pleased that her day turned out the way that it did, as she sighed happily to herself.

Beside her, Draco smiled lightly to himself, thinking all about the night as well. It had turned out to be very entertaining and revealing. When they finally pulled up to Briana's house, she gave him probably the biggest hug of all that night and kissed him on the cheek.

"You and your friends, you're all simply amazing. Thank you for letting me into your little group of friends," she smiled at his smirking face.

"Of course! I wouldn't reject you from my selection of mates, that's ridiculous. Plus, they all love you, they really do. But remember, I'm your best friend and visa versa."

"Forever and always," she smiled and hugged him again, then walked into her home, waving him goodbye as she closed her front door.

This move was proving to be one of the best things that ever happened to her.


	14. Chapter 13

The bright and happy sun rose from behind the many trees, bringing with it a rainbow of colors to create a beautiful day. As the light from the morning crept its way through the thin curtains that adorned the windows of Brightsman Manor, Briana Brightsman herself rose out of bed.

She looked around her bedroom, now illuminated by sunlight, stretching and groaning her tiredness away. Rubbing her eyes as she walked, Briana made her way into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and taking a shower.

It was a lazy morning for the teenage girl, but her mother never allowed Briana to leave her bedroom in her pajamas. The only time she was allowed to do so was when her mother wasn't home. Briana changed into an outfit that would allow her to stay cool in the hot, Summer weather.

The warm and bright day got to Briana's head and she was filled with happiness, starting her day off wonderfully. She made her way into the kitchen where her father was reading the Daily Prophet and sipping a cup of piping hot coffee.

She gave her effervescent father a hug and kiss on the cheek, "Good morning, daddy!"

He smiled at his daughter, "Morning. You seem very joyful today. Any specific reason for this?"

"I'm not all that sure. I just woke up feeling optimistic and rejuvenated! I think it also has to do with this brilliant weather," she answered, pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Ah, I see. Well what do you have planned for the day?", Perseus Brightsman questioned his daughter as he added more sugar to his already sweet coffee.

"I don't have anything planned out. I may go to my mate Chuck's house, though. I would call up Draco, but I expect he's busy helping with the preparations for the party tonight."

"I'm sure he is. Your mother went over there an hour ago to help as well."

"An hour ago?! It's only 11 just now. The party doesn't start until half past four."

"You know how elaborate the Malfoy's are with their celebrations. But now who is this Chuck that you'll be spending the day with?", he gave Briana a look of sincere curiosity and concern.

She smiled at her protective dad, "Don't worry, father. He's good friends with Draco, and he's very nice. Admittedly, he does need to mature himself in some areas... But he is greatly respectable! You can meet him tonight at the party, if you wish."

Folding the paper as he listened to his daughter speak, Perseus replied, "Seeing as he's a friend of Draco's, I assume he can't be much trouble. At any rate, please be very careful. And you know I'd love to meet any and all friends of yours, whenever you see fit."

"You truly are the best, dear father! I'll be back in time to get ready for the party," she finished talking and gulped down the rest of her pomegranate-raspberry tea.

"Come back any later than 3 o'clock and I will hunt you down, yeah?", he pointed at her, as she began to leave the room.

"Of course, father! Don't wait up on me! I love you!", she called as she exited the kitchen and wound up in the living room.

The relationship that Briana had with her father was one to envy. They were very comfortable with one another, and in a lot of ways, Perseus was much more like an older brother. Briana wished she could say the same of she and her mother, but Anais isn't the same. The two of them clash heads pretty often, which also upsets Perseus. For the most part, however, they were a happy family of three.

Briana stepped into the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder as she did so. But she had to pause and think for a moment. What was Chuck's last name again? Something to with lizards, right? No, no, Salamanders. It sounded like Salamander... Salad.. Salami... ew... Salamon..? OH! Solomon! Chuck Solomon!

"Solomon Manor!", she shouted as she un-clenched her fist, letting the dust fall from her hand.

She found herself in a fireplace, looking at a room completely unfamiliar to her. This was, after all, her first time at Chuck's house. She just met the guy yesterday! Then she began to think if coming to his house was creepy... Briana told herself that it was alright, because they were already pretty great friends and Draco had said that they all really liked her.

Stepping out of the fireplace, Briana looked up and around the room, "Heeellloooo?" She walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Anybody home?", she called out.

She suddenly heard the sound of running feet behind her, when the noise abruptly stopped. Briana turned around quickly to find herself looking down at a short, little girl with straight, long, blonde hair and blue eyes; just like Chuck.

The little girl was smiling wide at Briana as she swished her pink skirt back and forth. Briana smiled back and spoke to her, "Hellothere, I'm Briana! I'm a friend of Chuck's. What's your name?"

"My name is Catherine, but people call me Cat because it's easier."

Briana remembered Draco telling her last night that Cat was Chuck's five year-old little sister. "It's nice to meet you, Cat! Do you know where your brother is?"

Cat nodded and held out her hand for Briana to take. When she did, the little girl started walking up the stairs, saying, "Chuck is sleeping still. He's bigger than me, but he always sleeps a lot longer. My mommy says it's because he doesn't take naps."

Briana smiled at the talkative child as she let go of her hand, reaching the top of the staircase. Cat led her down a short hallway before the pair of them stopped in front of a door. The five year-old burst the door open to reveal a very blue and grey bedroom.

Chuck was laying peacefully under the covers with the curtains still closed and the ceiling fan on. Before Briana could even think of how to wake the boy up, Cat was running towards the bed and jumping on top of her older brother.

"Good morning, Chuck!", she yelled.

"Oof! What the-?", Chuck rolled over sluggishly to see his little sister sitting on top of him. "Cat, what in Merlin's name are you doing?"

She smiled at him, then started poking his face, "Chuuuuuck! You gotta wake up! Your girlfriend is here to see you!"

"What? What girlfriend? Who are you-?"

"The girl named Briana! Right there!", she cut him off, pointing in Briana's direction.

Chuck looked over, then met Briana's bright chocolate eyes, much to his surprise, "Well, well, well. Looks like someone didn't get enough of me last night, did they?"

Briana smiled and shook her head. She walked towards him as he sat up in his bed, "Please inform your sister that we are not boyfriend and girlfriend."

"You see her?", Chuck pointed to Briana as he talked to nodded.

"Well, she's not my girlfriend. Briana and I are just good friends. For now." He threw a wink at Briana, which caused her to laugh.

"But you said that your girlfriend is gonna be really pretty and she's really pretty," the five year old was blunt.

"Yes, she's very pretty, but she's gonna be Draco's girlfriend. Not mine, silly," Chuck smirked.

"Excuse me?!", Briana stared at Chuck in shock, her face slightly pink.

"Draco?!", Cat exclaimed. "But Draco is so scary! Why would you be Draco's girlfriend when he is so scary?", she turned to Briana now, looking very confused and surprised.

Briana had to laugh, "I'm not going to be Draco's girlfriend. Your brother is just crazy."

She closed her eyes and nodded slowly, "I know. My mommy calls him the word insane all the time. And insane is the same thing as crazy."  
During the time that Briana had to explain herself to Cat, Chuck had managed to slip away and change his clothes. He came back to hearing the two girls discuss why pink was Cat's favorite color.

"So, Briana, what do you wish to do?", he asked her, leaning against the door frame of his closet.

She stared at him blankly for a moment, "I don't know. I just want you to entertain me until I have to return home for the party."

"That sounds kinky, my dear."

"Anything that any woman says to you sounds kinky."

"What's kinky mean?", Cat asked innocently.

"Oh..", Chuck looked at his little sister seriously. "Kinky is a word for big kids. You can't say that word or else you'll be in trouble. And nobody will give you Christmas presents. Got it?"

"Okay!", she smiled at her older brother, who smiled back.

Chuck, now fully dressed and awake, picked up Cat and turned to face Briana again. He thought carefully about what they ought to do. His parents were working at the moment, as they always were, so he had to bring Cat with him.

He finally thought of something that would be beneficial to all three of the people in the room, "How about we take you the park, Cat?"

"The castle park?!", she asked, excitement showing on her face.

"Indeed, the castle park. Briana, you and I can chit-chat while she plays. I mean, I don't know much about you," Chuck explained.

Briana smiled at him, "Sounds wonderful."

* * *

The three of them then made their way down the stairway and out the front door. Once they were outside, Cat wiggled out of Chuck's arms and started to skip merrily on the sidewalk. The little girl made Briana smile; she liked her. Well, Briana loved kids in general, but Cat just made her especially happy.

"Your little sister is sooo cute!", she told him.

"Adorable, isn't she? She's the main reason I wake up every morning."

"Did you mean to make that double meaning, there?"

"What double meaning?"

"Well, you said she's the main reason you wake up every morning. It's a double meaning because it can mean she is the thing you want to see every day so you wake up to see her, but it also means that she wakes you up every morning. You see?"

"Oh, yeah. You think about things in too much depth," he squinted at Briana.

"Ha! I've never thought of that as a bad thing, so thank you," she smiled.

The trio finally reached the castle park, which made Catherine extremely happy. Upon their arrival, she squealed and immediately began to play on the merry-go-round with two other girls around her age.

Because of the exceptional weather, there were lots of people at the park. Almost all of the benches and picnic tables were taken, and some people laid in the shade of the trees in the grass. Chuck led Briana to a spot under a large orange tree.

Chuck put his arms behind his head and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Briana copied his exact movements, as he watched her mimic him.

"I like your fashion choices, Briana," he told her.

"Psh, you just like the fact that my shorts are short and that my top is strapless," she corrected him.

"Well I'm certainly not complaining. But no, seriously, other than that though your sense of fashion is great. I like the outfits you put together."

"Oh... Well thank you."

"So, lovely, tell me something interesting about you."

"Like what?", she asked her friend.

"Something that would surprise people."

"Um, oh I can speak three languages fluently: English, French and Vietnamese."

"Why French and Vietnamese?"

"Well, my grandmother is French, so my mother grew up speaking English and French at the same time. So she taught me French since I was little. As for the Vietnamese, I felt like learning another language, so I chose Vietnamese. I also visited Vietnam one Summer, so. Yeah," she attempted to explain herself.

"I see. Well I only speak English. And a little bit of Spanish. But we won't be getting into that today. Now you ask me something."

"Alright. What's your best school subject?"

"Definitely History of Magic and Charms. Charms is my favorite. How about yourself?", Chuck looked at her.

"Best subjects would have to be Herbology and Potions, Potions being my favorite."

"Looks like I just found my help this year for my two worst classes! I do terribly at Herbology, no matter how many books I read on the subject!"

Briana's interest was peaked, hearing him say that he read several books, "Hey, what's your favorite novel?"

"Novel? Do I look like I read?", he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, you actually do! Not to mention, you just said that you've read lots of Herbology books."

"Well you're correct, because I actually read all the time. My favorites would have to be Great Expectations, Quidditch Through the Ages, To Kill A Mockingbird, Secrets of the Darkest Art, The Great Gatsby and The Fault in Our Stars."

Briana nodded at him, "That's quite an elite list. You truly are a reader. I think you may read even more than me. I've never heard of the last one."

"The Fault in Our Stars? Yeah, it's a great read. You should give it a look if you ever find the time."

"I think I will. I feel like there's a lot more to you than what you show the world," Briana watched him intently.

The sound of children's laughter continuously filled the background noise as the sun beat down on everyone's faces and birds flew into the trees above them. Chuck looked back into Briana's eyes, saying, "Isn't that what it's like for everyone?"

Briana thought to herself for a minute. What Chuck said was true, in fact it was very true indeed. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know what Chuck's story was. She wanted him to tell her all about what he didn't display to the public eye.

Briana stopped leaning on the tree and sat in front of Chuck, facing directly at him, "Tell me about your world."

He looked down, then quickly back up at the girl in front of him, "What do you wish to know?"

"Anything. Everything."

"I obviously can't tell you everything in one sitting, but I'm sure that over time, I'll tell you all there is for me to say."

"Of course. I'll do the same, if you wish me to," she offered.

He nodded, "That'd be nice. So... What part of me would you like to hear about today?"

She tilted her head at him, "What do you feel like telling me about?"

"Anything, really. You should probably just ask me about something and I'll tell you all about it, yeah?"

"Sounds splendid, dear Chuck. Well, how about you tell me about your relationship with your family."

"Of all the things... You would pick that subject..."

Briana sat up quickly and tried to convey innocence through her facial expressions, "Well you said I could pick anything!"

"I know, I know. It's just kind of a touchy subject."

"Oh, sorry. You don't have to talk about it if-"

"No, no, I want to tell you. I just want you to know it's the not the brightest of conversations," he explained, staring at her.

"Oh, alright," Briana nodded understandably, "You can begin whenever you're ready. I'm all ears, Chuck."

Chuck Solomon smiled weakly at his nice friend. He thought about how he would start his spiel as he watched Briana's hands make a fishtail braid out of her hair. Her eyes never left him though, for she was trying to tell what he was thinking. He sat there in silence for quite a while, and just when Briana was going to tell Chuck to forget about it, he began to speak.

"There are five people in my family. My father, my mother, my two little sisters and then me. I've honestly lost count of my parents' ages because I don't care much for them, but their names are Serena and Sean. You've met my little sister Catherine, she's six just so you know. My other little sister is named Andrea and she's just turned twelve, so she'll be in her second year at school this Fall. She isn't around because she doesn't even live with us anymore," his voice trailed off and he looked into the distance, willing himself to go on.

"Andrea lives in Bristol with my mom's sister, her husband and their two kids. She moved with them right before she started her first year because... because my father got drunk as he always does, and Andrea wanted to tell him goodnight. But instead of a hug and kiss for the night, my father gave her the cruciautus curse. I wasn't there to.. I didn't know any of it was happening... Her screams of pain are what made me run down there to see what was going on, but I was too late to save her from anything."

Briana thought she saw Chuck, the funny, perverted and immature friend of hers, on the brim of tears. What she thought about him was right; there was much more beyond the surface. And she had found his weak spot (or at least one of them): his family. Briana had only known this boy for two days, but he was her friend. A very good friend of hers. It still pained her to see him this emotional. She reached out and held his hand tightly. Chuck gave her a quick, weak smile then wiped his eyes, before continuing.

"I hate my father. He's always working except for when he's drinking and smoking. He used to hurt my mother all the time, and my sister that one time. But I was able to get him to stop hurting them and it's been a bit more than a year now. The alternative to him hurting others is hurting me," Chuck's eyes looked distant as he rolled up his sleeve to show her just a couple of very many scars from his loving father.

Briana gasped and stared him in the eyes, "Chuck this is not okay. You shouldn't let him hurt you like this. It's not right."

"Well neither is him hurting my mom and if he didn't do this to me, he would do it to her and for all I know, Catherine would be next on his list. The last thing I need and want is for him to cause her pain too."

"But there must be some other way."

"You don't think I haven't looked into it for myself? This is just the simplest way to go about the situation."

"Except it's so complicated...", Briana gave him a concerned look."Do Draco or anyone else know about this?"

"The only one who knows about this, other than you, is Alex."

The two of them sat there in the shade in silence for a moment before Chuck spoke again, "I just don't care about anyone in my family. Except for Catherine and Andrea. They're all I really live for. Even if I hardly see her, I love Andrea so much. I'm afraid that she'll grow distant from Cat and I and that she won't care about us anymore. And I worry about Cat all the time. I'm afraid that something will happen to her while I'm at school. I just have a lot of fears when it comes to my family. That's why I act so foolish, so perverted, so crazy. I'm covering it all up, to keep others from guessing the truth. It also keeps my mind off of it, so it just works for everyone."

Learning about this side of Chuck was a big accomplishment in Briana's mind. She had cracked the case of the great Solomon. Now she viewed him in a different way. He was the same Chuck, but there was more to him now, more character than before. And from this conversation, Chuck had gained a massive amount of respect from her.

"Chuck, you have such a good heart. You... You're so strong. I hope that behind all the douche-y and fucked up guys out there, there's a humble, courageous and remarkable man like you. I'm really really glad that I met you. I haven't known you long, but I'm positive that you'll make a loyal and excellent friend. Know that I'll always be here for you and I hope that you will do the same for me."

The boy genuinely smiled brightly at Briana. He suddenly engulfed her in a huge hug, "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope we can have many more conversations like this. Maybe next time you can reveal some of yourself to me. Did you catch that double meaning?"  
Briana laughed loudly and gave him a hug back, "You're amazing, you know that? I just enjoy you so much."

He half smiled at her, "Glad the feeling's mutual."

The first breeze of the day passed, rustling the leaves of the trees all around them. This was a day that neither Chuck nor Briana would forget; the day they became actual, good friends.


	15. Chapter 14

The heat of the day got a little less intense, but nevertheless, the sun still sent out warm rays of light to the people of London like Santa sends out presents. When Catherine had decided she was done playing almost two hours later, Briana had the idea to get some ice cream. Cat thought this was a brilliant plan and told Briana that she was her favorite friend of Chuck's.

As Cat, Chuck and Briana all walked to Lulu's Ice Cream Parlor just a few blocks away, the youngest in the group of three begged the teenagers to sing songs with them.

"Chuck! Briana!", she exclaimed. "Sing a good song with me!"

"You know I don't sing," Chuck stared at his little sister.

"You sing to me at night time though," she stated.

"Aw, Chuck, that's so cute!", Briana smiled at him.

"Well now that Briana knows my secret, what song do you wanna sing, Cat?"

The little girl looked thoughtful, "Can we sing the 'you know how I feel' song? That's my favorite song."

"Oh my Godric. Is she referring to the Michael Bublé song?", Briana asked excitedly.

Chuck nodded, "Yeah, it's called 'Feeling Good'. She always has me sing it for her. Alright Cat, let's sing it then."

The six year-old girl clapped excitedly and looked to her older brother, "You gotta start because I forget the words."

Chuck smiled at her and started singing the lyrics, "Birds flying high..."

"You know how I feel," Cat recited.

Chuck looked to Briana, who didn't waste a minute in taking him up in the offer to recite the next line, "Sun in the sky..."

"You know how I feel."

Chuck, "Breeze drifting on by..."

Cat smiled widely, "You know how I feel!"

Briana smiled too, "It's a new dawn."

He knew his little sister didn't know this part, "It's a new day."

"It's a new life," Briana hooked arms with him.

"For me...", Chuck smiled at Briana.

"And I'm feeling good!", Cat shouted happily. 

The three of them started laughing together loudly, as they reached the ice cream parlor. It was very busy and lots of people were inside, driven by the hot sun to get frozen treats.

Chuck held the door open for Briana and Cat, as Briana told the hostess that there were three of them. The cranky hostess named Hilary motioned for them to follow her and started to lead them back, past many tables with many people.

Cranky Hilary waved her wand over a table to remove a stray napkin that sat limply on the table she had stopped at. She motioned for the three of them to sit down, and they did as she placed three menus down and hurried away.

Briana picked up a menu filled with nothing but several different ice cream flavors and dishes, as she noticed two girls that looked about 12 staring at the three of them. Upon realizing that Briana was staring back at them, they both smiled at her.

"Hi...", Briana said awkwardly.

"Sorry for staring at you all creepily, we were just wondering...", one of them with blonde hair started.

"Is she your guys' daughter? Because she's super cute!", the other one, who had blue hair gestured to Cat.

"What?!", Chuck and Briana exclaimed in unison.

"My mum always warned me about teen pregnancy. Was it super hard for you?", the blonde asked with sincere concern and interest on her face.

Briana stared at Chuck with her mouth agape in horror, while he smirked back at her, trying to hold in his laughter. Meanwhile, little Catherine stared at the two girls as if they were mental.

"Chuck is my big brother! Briana is his girlfriend, they're not my mommy and daddy!", she exclaimed loudly.

"Um, actually, he and I are just good friends," Briana explained awkwardly.

"Oh!", the blue-haired girl shouted. "I'm sorry! I really thought you two were... and that she was..."

"Yeah," her friend chimed in. "It just looked like you two were a really young couple with a daughter."

"Nah, I haven't really gotten a chance to get it in yet, you see," Chuck smiled, trying to look innocent.

Briana gave him a look, "Chuck! You will corrupt their minds with perverted ways!"

The two girls giggled at them, then waved goodbye as they got up and left the parlor. Briana sent Chuck a glare, but he pretended not to notice and hid his face with the menu he was inspecting. She rolled her eyes while smiling and read her menu as well.

"So, what do you think you're gonna get?", Briana asked Cat.

"I want all the ice cream they have with sprinkles!", Cat bounced up and down in the booth.

"In your dreams, sister," Chuck raised his eyebrows at her. "I was actually thinking we should all share one of the big sundaes they have."

"Oh, like The Manticore Sundae? It has five scoops of vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles and a cherry on top."

"Yes! Yes! That one please!", Catherine bounced in her seat again.

"I think we've found our sundae," Chuck smiled, placing his menu back on the table.

A waitress with short brown hair came to take their order. She made a little cheering sound when they told her which sundae they were getting, then explained it was her favorite and that she and her husband eat it together. The waitress left and came back about 3 minutes later with a large bowl that held the ice cream and three silver spoons.

The three of them each picked up a spoon and Cat instantly began devouring a scoop that especially had lots of sprinkles on top of it. Briana and Chuck ate as well, laughing when Catherine claimed her stomach hurt after eating her scoop and lots of caramel sauce and sprinkles.

The two teenagers finished the rest of The Manticore Sundae and paid their nice waitress. The group of three then exited Lulu's ice cream parlor with their stomachs full of ice cream and their faces full of smiles. Briana squinted through the sun to look at a clock that hung in an antique store nearby. It was a little bit after 2 o'clock.

"I have just under an hour before I'm due to be back home. What should we do until then?", she asked her friend.

"We should go window shopping, and if there's a store that looks interesting enough, we should go in. I just ask of you that you don't drag me into any clothing stores."

Briana laughed, "Alright, let's do it! And I promise to contain myself, though are you sure you wouldn't like to have a look of the lingerie?"

Chuck contemplated her words, "I'd much rather see it on somebody..." 

She laughed again then began walking down the street. Cat and Chuck followed as the three of them all looked in store windows that they passed. They walked by a pet store that had puppies in the window that Briana and Cat were instantly drawn to. The two girls gushed over them for quite some time before Chuck was finally able to tear them away.

The trio walked farther down the streets before they got to a music store that Cat especially wanted to go into. A display of various sheet musics they had in the window caught her attention, because one of them had the face of Michael Bublé on the cover.

Chuck, Briana and Cat all went inside and the six year-old instantly went off to find the Michael Bublé sheet music. While she did that, the other two walked around the store, admiring the guitars, drums, trumpets, tambourines,xylophones and various other instruments that were there.

Briana's face lit up immediately when they got to the back of the store where several pianos and keyboards were set-up. She took a particular fancy to a purple grand piano that sat in the midst of all the others. Clapping her hands happily, Briana rushed over to it and sat down on the purple piano bench.

Watching her with a smile plastered on his face, Chuck slowly walked after her, stopping on the side of the piano. He watched her hands as she rolled them in circles, cracked her fingers and then rolled her shoulders back. She lightly placed her hands over the keys, her fingers barely touching them.

She closed her eyes for a second or two, then slowly opened them. Briana pressed down and began to play "Two Spirits Soar" by Brian Crain. It sounded beautiful, and Chuck was mesmerized by the sound. Even Cat came over to watch her play, triumphantly holding the sheet music in her little hands.

The teenage boy who was currently working his shift in the store came over as well and watched Briana's hands move around the keys seemingly effortlessly, as she finished the song. Playing the final chord, she looked up and was surprised to see all of them staring at her. All three of them clapped and she smiled, blushing a little bit.

"I'm sorry, I got a little bit carried away," she apologized.

"Nonsense, that was brilliant. I didn't know you could play," Chuck complimented.

"Briana, you are super duper good at the piano!", Cat exclaimed, sitting with her on the bench.

"You can really play," the boy who was in charge of the shop at the time spoke. He had medium length black hair and striking blue eyes. He wore a Beatles t-shirt, black skinny jeans with a rip in one knee and a pair of navy blue converse.

Briana smiled at him and he smiled back, "My name is Ian, by the way. I kinda work here in case you haven't noticed."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Chuck, this is my little sister Cat, and she's Briana."

"Awesome. Hey, don't you go to Hogwarts?", Ian asked Chuck.

"I do. How'd you know?"

"I remember seeing you around. I was a Ravenclaw there, but I graduated two years ago. Now I work here for my Uncle."

"Ah, I see. Well that's cool, sorry I don't remember you," Chuck said kind of awkwardly.

Ian laughed, "No, it's alright. I wouldn't expect you to; I'm three years older than you, mate."

"Do you play any instruments?", Briana asked him curiously.

"Indeed, I do! I play the guitar, the drums and a just a tad of piano. Nothing like you though, you're amazing."

She half-smiled at him, "You're too nice."

"BRIANA! Play this song, please!", Cat begged her.

Ian laughed, "Bublé, huh? Your sister has pretty good taste. Well I'll be at the counter if you guys need anything."

Chuck and Briana thanked him as he walked away. Cat opened the small, three page booklet that held the sheet music for "Feeling Good". Briana stared at the page for a minute before she began to play, which made Catherine very happy.

All three of them started to sing the words as Briana played the piano. They finished the song and all began to laugh. Cat picked up the sheet music from the piano and waved in front of Chuck.

"We need to buy this!", she told him.

"What for? Neither of us can play the piano, silly," he explained.

The six year old stood there for a minute before she had an idea, "Briana can teach me!"

"I'm not sure Briana would be up for that..."

"I'd love to teach you, sweetie! It would be fun!", Briana smiled at the girl.

She jumped and down excitedly, "Yes! We're gonna have a lot of fun, you know! I can go to your house all the time!"

"But while I'm at school, you need to be sure to practice on your own, right?"

"Yes! Let's buy this!", Cat ran off to see Ian at the counter.

Briana and Chuck went after her and paid for the sheet music. They talked to Ian for a minute or so, bid him goodbye as they promised to come back and left the music store. A few clouds dotted the sky now, but still, the heat raged on. They all needed to get home to get ready for the Malfoy's party.

* * *

When they got back to the Solomon's large home, Catherine gave Briana a long hug and said goodbye. Chuck told her that he'd see her soon and gave her a hug, too. She got back to her house using Floo Powder. Stepping out of the fireplace in her living room, she called out, "I'm home!" She didn't want her father to worry.

Walking up the stairs, she saw her father at the end of the hall, walking towards her upstairs. He gave her a smile and a thumbs up as he grabbed her hand, leading her into his bedroom with her.

"Why are you taking me here?", Briana asked her father, curiously.

"Your mother has your dress for you," he explained.

She smiled, "Is it pretty?"

Her father shrugged, "I haven't even seen it, yet!"

Anais Brightsman walked out of her large, walk-in closet in a long, blue silk robe. In her right hand, she was holding a dress bag on a hanger. The woman smiled brightly at her daughter, "Are you ready to see what Mrs. Malfoy has for you?" Briana nodded excitedly. Her mother's smile grew as she zipped down the zipper on the dress bag. Inside was a short, pink, sleeveless teenage girl's smile slowly faded as she stared at the dress.

"What's the matter, dear?", her mother asked, slightly frowning.

"Pink? Oh, mother, why must it be pink?", she whined.

"Oh, stop your incessant whining. It's a beautiful dress!"

"Yes, but pink is one of my least favorite colors."

"What, did you expect to be wearing a black dress? This party is to celebrate the last day of Summer, Briana. Summer has vibrant and pretty colors, such as pink. It only makes sense."

"It will look beautiful on you anyway, darling," Briana's father intervened.

"Besides, it's not like you can show up in another dress. That would be incredibly rude and ill-mannered," her mother finalized, handing her daughter the dress.

"Alright, alright. I'll put on the PINK dress."

She left the room, closing her parent's door and walking to her own room. Briana shut the door to her bedroom behind her, her toes touching the plush, white carpet. She glanced at the clock sitting on her bedside table. It was 3:15. Laying the dress out on her bed, Briana went into her closet to find some shoes that matched. She pulled out a pair of pink high heels with a look of triumph (and distaste) on her face.

Walking into her bathroom, she turned on her hair straightener. Then, she went over to the chest of drawers that held all her jewelry. Picking out the pieces she thought would match the best, she laid them out on the bed next to the dress. Briana walked over to her vanity and picked up what appeared to be a black box.

On the box were several, colorful buttons, and even some with patterns or designs on them. You see, this was a magical beauty device, an automatic nail painter; a considerably remarkable invention that muggle girls would unfortunately never have the luxury to use. Briana placed one hand inside the box and pressed the pink button, followed by the button with the flower design depicted on it.

When she removed her hand from the box, the teenage girl's fingernails were pink with cute, little, white flowers on them. After admiring the work that was done, she put her other hand in, then pulled it out when the device was finished with her other set of nails. Briana set the box back down and traveled across the warm carpet to her cold bathroom tiles.

After brushing out her long, shiny brown hair, the excited 16 year-old straightened every strand of her hair until they looked like raw spaghetti noodles. She turned the hair iron off so that the red light was no longer glowing, then walked back into her bedroom. There was no more avoiding it. She stared down the pink outfit, laid out before her eyes. It screamed at Briana to be put on.

With a heavy sigh, but a faint smile, Briana stepped into her beautiful, pink dress and zipped it up behind her. She put on the necklace, bracelet and ring that she picked out earlier. Just as she thought, the whole thing matched up wonderfully. Lastly, the pink high heels went on her warm feet, completing the outfit the Malfoy's party.

She walked over to the full length mirror that hung on the outside of her closet door. Her own face stared back at her as an unexpected, genuine smile slowly crept onto her face. Perseus Brightsman was right; his daughter looked beautiful, even in her least favorite color to wear. Glancing at the clock on her way out, she read the time to be 4:07 in the afternoon.

Briana walked down her stairs to find her father waiting at the bottom of them. He smiled widely at he as she made her way down, still smiling. As she reached the bottom, Perseus kissed her on the head, "See, you still look beautiful. Pretty in pink!"

"Aw, father, stop," she giggled at him.

Anais Brightsman then made her way down the stairs then, all ready to go. She wore a long, loose white dress that had pink flowers on it. Her brown, shiny hair was pulled back into an elegant bun, which made the woman appear even more refined. Both Anais's husband and daughter smiled at her as she joined the two of them at the front door.

"Come now, we have no time to lose! It's already ten minutes past four, the Malfoy's should be expecting us right now," the mother rushed them out of the house, as the three of them quickly began the short walk to the house next door.

"Dearest, for exactly what reason must we be there twenty minutes before the event, again?", Perseus asked of his wife.

"Briana is Draco's date, remember? And Briana and Draco are the co-hosts of this party, seeing as Draco is one of the residents of the house the do is being held at. So you know that naturally the two of them must be standing at the door long with Narcissa and Lucius to greet all the guests."

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot. Are you prepared for this, Briana?"

"Of course, father. I've been to these types of parties all my life. Not everyone has as bad of a memory as you," she teased him.

"Briana Elizabeth, that's no way to speak to your father," Anais reprimanded her daughter.

But Perseus smiled at winked at his daughter, causing Briana to have to stifle a giggle.

The Brightsman family reached Malfoy Manor at last. Approaching the door, Anais knocked on it firmly, three times before putting on her best smile. Not long after, a frazzled-looking house elf opened the door and bowed, gesturing the three of them inside. Looking around, Briana mentally complimented Narcissa for being able to decorate the mansion in such splendor. Seeing the entrance hall and dining hall, there were tons of yellow and pink roses everywhere, along with pretty little lights and candles thrown about.

The house elf led them further to the ballroom where almost a hundred tables sat on all the edges of the room, leaving a large space in the middle for dancing. On one wall, however, there was a vast stage where an orchestra was playing elegant music.

Narcissa, Draco and Lucius themselves were in the ballroom too. Lucius was apparently talking to the maestro of the orchestra about something, while Draco and his mother were double checking to make sure all the name cards were in the right place, according to the seating chart the Draco had been in charge of. They were finishing up this task as the Brightsman's walked up to them.

Both of them turned around, Narcissa displaying a pearly white smile. She looked over Briana and gasped in delight, giving her a warm hug, "My dear, the dress looks gorgeous on you! Not that that wasn't expected, of course. I'm so glad."

Lucius came over then, gave Briana a small smile, then joined the other adults who promptly left to have a look over the garden. Briana looked around the room again, before turning to face Draco, then noticed the color of his tie: pink. She began laughing as her friend glared at her.

"I can't believe your mother convinced you to wear pink!", she said, calming herself.

"You know I can't say no to my mother. It made her giddy, so that's all that matters. She only made me wear it to match you anyways. Speaking of which, I'm surprised you even wore the pink dress."

"I wasn't given much of an option," she shrugged.

"Well I don't even know why you would hate this dress because you look brilliant," he complimented her, giving her a hug.

"Why thank you. You're looking quite dapper yourself," she smiled at him.

The adults re-appeared in the doorway, Narcissa motioning for Briana and Draco to come with her. Anais and Perseus sat at their places in the ballroom as Briana and Draco followed Mrs. Malfoy into the entrance hall. She joined Lucius right next to the front door and straightened out the skirt of her dress before linking an arm around his. The hectic woman showed Briana and Draco where to stand; a little bit to the left of them.

It was 4:28, when Draco linked an arm around one of Briana's as he glanced at her, "You remember how to do this, right?"

She rolled her eyes and recited, "When a female is faced with another female, they shake hands. When a female is faced with a male, she holds her hand out to him. When a male is faced with another male, they shake hands. When a male is faced with a female, he takes her hand and kisses it. It's not that complicated, Dray."

"Alright, alright. Can't blame a guy for double checking..."

As the clock struck to half past 4 in the afternoon, the guests began to swarm in. The four of the hosts stood up straighter and put on their finest smiles, ready to begin the end of Summer holiday party.


	16. Chapter 15

The guests for the Malfoy's party began to line up and come into the house, where Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy greeted them, quickly followed by a friendly greeting from Draco and Briana. Most of the people that were invited, Briana met when she was younger, but they either didn't recognize her, or she didn't remember them.

All of Draco's friends and their families came as well. Most of them Briana was meeting for the first time, such as Marcus Flint, Pansy Parkinson, Ethan Bentley, Adrian Pucey, Theodore Nott, Tabitha Bainbridge and Daphne and Astoria Greengrass. All of these people seemed to like Briana, except for Pansy, who glared at her, and Astoria who shot her a quick glare for what ever reason.

With all these people that Briana didn't know prior to this evening, were the friends that she had made just a couple days ago. Chuck was one of the first people to come, with his parents and Catherine, who gave Briana a big hug but cowered in fear of Draco. When Chuck took Briana's hand, he kissed up her arm all the way to her shoulder, until Draco discreetly kicked him in the showed up with his mother, step-father and older sister as well. Alex showed up by himself, which Briana found a little odd, and wanted to know why that was.

Even Kaylee, the girl that Briana danced with at the club, came. Apparently Kaylee had a little sister and brother who were twins, who came with her and her parents. Kaylee smiled immensely when she saw Briana and told her to come find her later. The four hosts continued to greet and welcome people to the party until just after 5 o'clock when there was nobody else arriving.

Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Briana joined everyone else in the ballroom, who sat in all their respective places. Briana took hers and was both nervous and delighted to see who she shared a table with. With eight people to a table, Briana was sitting with Draco, Chuck, Theodore, Millicent, Ethan, Kaylee and Astoria. Sitting directly between Draco and Chuck, Briana was glad with her seating arrangements. Alex and Blaise were directly behind her, sitting at the table 2 feet away.

Ethan Bentley stared at Briana as she sat down and straightened out her skirt, until she looked up and met his eyes. He smirked and raised an eyebrow, to which she responded by lightly blushing then looking at Chuck instead. Chuck looked Briana over and smiled.

"Once again," he said. "I love your choice of fashion."

"Thank you. You're looking pretty splendid yourself, with your bright green tie," she tugged at it, smiling at him.

"I got the memo, noting to wear bright and Summer-y colors. Obviously you did as well."

"Don't even start. My mother and Mrs. Malfoy made me wear this dress."

He gave her a look, "I'm not even sure why you're acting upset about it. You look insanely attractive."

She smiled at him and nudged his arm lightly before she turned her attention to Millicent Bulstrode and introduced herself, "Hi, I'm Briana. Isn't your name Millicent?"

The pudgy girl smiled sheepishly and nodded at her, "Did you just move here?"

"Well I lived here when I was little, moved to America when I was 11, but I'm back now."

"That explains why you're dating Draco."

Now Theodore, Ethan, Chuck and Kaylee were in the conversation as well.

"Oh no, no, no, Dray and I are best friends. I've known him since I was six."

"Oh yeah? And is that why you've got a pet name for him?", Theodore Nott teased her.

"Lay off, Theo. At least Draco actually as hot girls giving him nicknames," Kaylee countered.

"I've known Malfoy for years, but I don't have a pet name for him. Just saying...", Theodore backed off.

"How is it possible that Malfoy can stay 'just friends' with someone like you?", Ethan looked her over.

"Because not everyone is as anxious to get laid as you are," Chuck shot him a look.

"Like you can talk, Solomon. You're at least twice as perverted as I am. And if I recall, you're the one who was almost a father last year, yeah?"

Briana looked at Chuck with her mouth agape in shock and confusion while Kaylee, Millicent, Astoria and Theodore covered their mouths. Astoria and Millicent were attempting to stifle laughs. If looks could kill, Chuck's glare would have slaughtered Ethan. Before Chuck could express his anger verbally, Draco stepped in to defend his friend.

"Bentley, you're better off not mentioning petty rumors from the past just to try to hurt others. It's not exactly a trait people admire. Just because you're not all happy with yourself doesn't give you an accountable reason to attempt to put others down."

"You know those weren't just petty rumors, Malfoy. Half of Slytherin house was there when Tracey Davis made a scene about how she thought she was pregnant with Solomon's baby. I think we'd all pay a thousand galleons to see that again," Ethan scowled at Draco.

"So since we're bringing up old memories, perhaps you wouldn't mind me reminding everyone of how you hit yourself in the face with your broom in first year? Or how even Longbottom laughed at your face full of boils and pimples when you made your potion incorrectly last year? Maybe everyone would be interested in hearing how you got turned down by 6 different girls when you asked them to the Yule Ball in fourth year?"

"Stop it this instant! Trying to embarrass me isn't going to work in your favor, not to mention it's just plain childish."

"But isn't that what you were doing to Chuck just a moment ago yourself?"

Everyone turned to Ethan now, who was silent. Nobody said anything more until dinner was served five minutes later. Briana stole a glance at Chuck who looked extremely distant as he picked up his fork. She squeezed his hand under the table for a moment, and he clenched hers back tightly as if to reassure her that he was alright.

Everyone at the table continued to eat their chicken cordon bleu in silence, until Astoria apparently thought it was alright for her to speak to Draco again.

"So, Draco, how did you do on your O.W.L.s?", she asked, batting her eyelashes.

"I received O.W.L.s in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Potions. Pretty much all I was expecting."

"Really? I always thought you were smarter than that, you talk sointelligently," she giggled furiously.

Briana rolled her eyes and turned to Kaylee, "Is she always like that?"

"Only around Draco and Blaise. But you know Blaise; he always gives her the cold shoulder. From the looks of it, Draco's barely able to stand her, himself."

Briana watched Draco discreetly roll his blue eyes, which caused her to snicker.

Everyone left their plates with just a few crumbs and smears on them as the house elves began to send out slices of cheesecake with fresh strawberries. Without any hesitation, Briana stole Draco's plate and ate all the strawberries before giving it back to him.

He smirked at his friend, "You remember that I don't like strawberries?"

"I distinctly remember you saying that you couldn't care for a fruit whose seeds are on the outside," she laughed with him as she noticed Astoria sending her a glare.

People began to migrate to the gardens after their bellies were full of desserts. Before going outside with everyone else, Briana went to the restroom. A few minutes later, she joined everyone else in the gardens of Malfoy Manor. The outside was decorated just as intricately as the inside was. She saw Alex,

Chuck, Blaise and Kaylee sitting as a group on a couple of white wooden benches by some bright blue and purple hydrangeas.

Taking a seat between Blaise and Kaylee, Briana smiled at her friends, "What's going on?"

"Kaylee and Chuck were just telling us about what happened with Ethan at the dinner table," Alex informed her.

"Sounds like it was a cheerful meal," Blaise added sarcastically.

"You know how we warned you about the people at Hogwarts you ought to stay away from?", Chuck looked at Briana.

"Yes, of course."

"Ethan Bentley is one of those people. Remember that."

She nodded at him, then turned her head when she heard footsteps coming from behind her.

Draco was walking towards them with his aunt Bellatrix at his side, looking as insane as ever. Upon seeing Briana's face, Bellatrix Lestrange got a deranged, big smile on her face. Giggling dementedly, she ran towards the girl who stood up abruptly before being embraced in an extremely tight hug.

"Briana! Briana, darling! Why you're no child anymore, are you? You look so much like your mother, you know," she continuously smiled rather creepily at Briana who politely smiled back and nodded.

Bellatrix then turned to Draco, but said, not very inconspicuously, "I know you're excited and ready to get on that one. If you ever have any doubts, I greatly approve, nephew. You two would make such beautiful children."

Briana's cheeks got hot and Draco looked at the ground as his aunt skipped away, seemingly happy. Briana sat back down, her best friend joining her on the bench. He turned to Chuck, "Are you alright there, mate? I don't know what Bentley was thinking."

"It didn't really bother me, actually. He's always just been an arrogant douche."

"You can say that again," Kaylee murmured as she stood up to walk to her mother, who was beckoning her from a table far away.

"Well now that she's gone and it's just us," Blaise began, his voice now hushed. "I can't help but ask you Draco; how much longer does your father have until he's being locked up?"

"Excuse me?!", Briana exclaimed.

"Ssh!", Draco quieted her. "My father was caught at the Ministry just before this Summer with several other Death Eaters."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?!"

"It never really came up," Draco shrugged and looked at her apologetically.

"My father wasn't at the ministry, so that's why he's here," Chuck told Briana.

"Both of my parents are already in Azkaban," Alex said quietly, which explained why he showed up alone.

"And nobody in my family is associated of the Death Eaters. We may affiliate ourselves with Death Eater families, but we have no ties to the Dark Lord in any other way," Blaise also explained his current situation.

Briana nodded, then asked Draco, "So why is Lucius still here? And your aunt Bella?"

"My aunt was able to escape. As for my father, the Ministry allowed him to be home for a little while before they took him in. He hasn't been allowed to leave the house, though. He's being taken in tomorrow, actually."

Draco looked a little sad, but shook it off quickly when Briana linked one of her arms around his. Kaylee came back to the group, but she had a girl with her now. The girl looked about their age, being an average height and very skinny. She had dark skin and long black hair but interestingly enough had piercing grey-blue eyes. In truth, she was actually very pretty.

The two girls sat down with the others in the group as Kaylee introduced the girl to Briana, "This is Letha. She goes to Hogwarts as well, in the same year as us, but she's in Ravenclaw."

"It's nice to meet you," Briana smiled.

"Kaylee's told me a story about you," Letha smiled mischievously back at Briana before the two of them began lightly laughing.

The boys looked at each other with interested expressions painted on their faces.

* * *

Sitting together as a group on the two benches, the seven teenagers looked around at each other. They could all tell the others were bored, but nobody really knew what they should do about it. That was, until Letha came up with an idea.

"We should play a game," she suggested.

"What do you have in mind?", Blaise asked her.

"Two Truths and a Lie. It'd be perfect, considering I hardly know any of you except for Kaylee."

"Sounds good to me," Draco nodded.

"Me too, I'm just not sure how to play," Chuck said.

"It's so simple! The instructions are practically all in the title!", Blaise stared at him.

"Okay, does anyone have any objections?", Kaylee asked them.

Nobody said anything.

"Alright. So for those of you who don't know how to play," Letha looked at Chuck. "Everyone takes a turn saying three things about themselves - two that are true, and one that's a lie. The rest of the group has to guess which one's the lie. That's it!"

"Oh, well that's so easy!", exclaimed Chuck.

"That's what I told you!", Blaise gave him a look.

"Alright, alright, let's just start this game! What order should we go in?", Briana attempted some leadership.

"Let's just go in a straight line starting from Letha," Draco said.

"Okay, so the order goes Letha, Kaylee, Briana, Draco, Chuck, Alex and then Blaise."

"Start then, Letha!", Chuck pressed.

Letha shot Chuck a short glare then pressed her eyebrows together in thought, "Okay, so I have three cats, I love to cook and I've never had a boyfriend."

"The last one," Blaise exclaimed immediately. "That has to be the lie."

"I agree with Blaise, I'm pretty sure you've had a boyfriend before," Kaylee said.

"Does everyone agree we think the last one's the lie?", Briana asked the group.

They all nodded.

Letha smiled, "Actually, the lie is that I have three cats. I kind of hate cats."

"Rubbish! You're trying to tell me you've never dated anyone before?!", Blaise stared at her bewildered.

"It's the truth! I find it rather flattering that you're so surprised about it," she smiled at him, and he smiled back.

Noticing the looks the two were giving each other, Draco looked at Chuck, who gave him the same knowing look back, and also gave the same knowing look to Alex, whose face was identical to theirs.

"Moving on! Kaylee's turn!", Chuck shouted.

"Right... I used to be best friends with Cho Chang, I was almost sorted into Gryffindor, and I secretly have a crush on Justin Emerson."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, here she goes on about Justin Emerson again...", Letha rolled her eyes.

"Wait, what? Justin Emerson?! How do you know Justin Emerson?!", Briana stared at her surprised and confused, when she heard her ex-boyfriend's name.

"I watch his videos on YouTube all the time! He sings and writes songs and plays the guitar and piano. Plus, he's a total hottie, I love him. He's like a celebrity, kind of! But he hasn't been signed yet," Kaylee explained her obsession with the boy.

"Oh..." Briana had forgotten about the fact that Justin has several videos of himself singing on the internet, not to mention the fact that he has quite a following.

"Why, do you watch his videos too?", Letha questioned Briana.

"Wasn't Justin your ex-boyfriend?", Draco asked her. She nodded.

"NO WAY!", Kaylee screamed. "You dated him?! Oh my Godric, I'm so jealous! Wait, why the hell would you break up with him?!"

"Because I was moving here! At any rate, we're just friends now."

Chuck noticed the slight awkwardness in the conversation "SOME people are trying to play a game here! Well, now we know that the last one is true, I'm guessing the fact about Chang is the lie."

"Yeah, I never saw you with her," Alex said.

"Well you guys are right! I actually kind of hate her," Kaylee shrugged passively.

"Don't be rude! She's rather nice, you know," Letha scolded her friend. "Anyways, it's your turn, Briana."

"Oh, right. Um, my favorite color is blue, I can't dance, and Winter is my favorite season."

"You suck at this, the second one is obviously the lie! You can dance, like at the club," Kaylee said quickly.

"I second that statement," Blaise raised his glass of champagne in the air.

"I third it," Chuck said.

"I suppose I'll agree with the rest of you," Letha decided.

"Honestly, Bri. You're one of the best dancers I've ever seen. You guys should see all her trophies and crowns and whatnot," Draco spoke of his best friend's achievements.

Briana rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay, you guys all got it right! Bloody hell, sorry I suck so bad at this game. Just take your turn now, Draco."

Draco sat up straighter and clasped his hands on his knees, "Alright, so I've never been drunk before, I secretly sing to myself a lot of the time, and my favorite beverage is hot apple cider."

"The one about you singing to yourself?", Chuck guessed.

"No, it's obviously the one about him never being drunk," Blaise corrected.

"I'm with Blaise," chimed in Alex.

"I think it's the last one! That drink is for little kids," Kaylee stated.

"I'd have to guess... the one about you never being drunk is a lie as well," Letha noted.

"Well, I know your favorite thing to drink is a good hot apple cider... And this sounds a little rude, but I think the one about you never being drunk before is a lie," Briana confessed.

Draco smirked at his friends, "Chuck was the only one who was correct. I've never been drunk before, and my favorite thing to drink is hot apple cider. I don't sing to myself though."

"Are you serious?!", Kaylee asked. "That's a lie!"

"I swear on my life."

"Come on now, it's my turn!", Chuck rubbed his hands together. "Here's the three things: one, I've never bought my own school books before, I've never gotten into a fight with a girl before, and I can't sing to save my own life."

"Second one's a lie!", Blaise shouted.

"No, the first one!", Letha challenged.

They ended up needing to do a vote by raise of hand, the majority of the group voting that the lie was the second one, about him never being in a fight with a female before. Upon reaching this decision, Chuck laughed somewhat bitterly and told them they were wrong.

"The lie is the one about me singing! I actually sing well, if I may say so myself. Kind of insulting that you all think I sing so badly. I take this sort of thing to heart, you know."

"Chuck, stop being a baby. Maybe if you actually sang in front of us for once, we would KNOW such things," Draco commented.

"I sang for Briana earlier today!", he defended himself. They looked at Briana.

"It's true," she told them. "He is actually quite good."

The others looked around at each other, some of them nodding approval and understanding, while Chuck stood with his arms crossed and a look that said "I told you so".

Now, it was time for Alex to take his turn in the game of Two Truths and a Lie. After carefully thinking over what he would say, the rather quiet teenage boy spoke, "I have an older sister who lives in France, I've never had a girlfriend, and I suck at Astronomy."

For once, it was silent. All of Alex's were quiet as they tried to decipher which fact was actually fiction. He had done well with the things he chose to say. After a few minutes of independent thinking, the six of them looked around at each other. Nobody really had any idea of which one was the lie, so they shrugged at one another and looked to Alex for the answer.

When he was about to speak, Chuck cut him off, "WAIT! I know which one ISN'T a lie! You really do have a sister who lives in France, I remember you telling me. But I don't know which of the other two is a lie..."

Smiling weakly and shyly at his friend, Alex explained, "You're close, Chuck. The only lie was actually that I have a sister who lives in France. I DO have an older sister, Claire, but she lives in Belgium, not Paris. Basically, I just took three true statements and changed one of them a tiny bit, so it would be hard for you guys to choose."

There was a collective "oh" of understanding from the group of friends as Alex slowly nodded, yet Draco shook his head side to side.

"Why are you shaking your head 'no'?", Briana asked him.

"Because. Alex is a secret genius. It's just nobody knows it because he hardly ever speaks," explained Draco, giving Alex a look, whose cheeks got pale pink as he lowered his head in a bit of shame.

"Alright, alright, stop rebuking him. It's my turn anyways!", Blaise had been patient long enough. "Of course you guys keep choosing to lolly-gag around."

"Then stop criticizing us and go already!", Letha snapped her fingers.

Glancing at her for a second, Blaise took the last turn of the game, "Right, so the man I came here with is my sixth step-father, I've been able to fly since I was 5, and I used to believe that Cho Chang was attractive."

"The first one's the lie!", Briana said immediately, believing she was right.

"I agree with Briana!", Kaylee shouted.

"Me too," said Letha, Chuck and Alex nodding in the background.

Draco looked skeptical. Squinting his eyes at Blaise as if it would help him figure out what the lie was, he slowly said, "That's not the answer... It's the last one. The one about Chang is the lie, I know it."

Blaise smiled at Draco, then turned to the rest of the group, "Malfoy was right. I've never fancied that girl."

The others groaned. "I was so sure the first one was fake!", Kaylee looked exasperated.

"Wait, so then your mother has been married seven times?", Briana gave Blaise a crazy look.

"Indeed. This is her longest marriage, though, so I think she's finally settled down for good."

"Of course, I already knew all of this. Just a testament to how good of friends the two of us are," Draco stretched, bragging of his knowledge of his best friend.

"Well that was a pretty fun game," Blaise admitted, standing up.

"I told you. And now, we all know a lot about each other now," Letha pointed out.

"So... this is like our official group of friends, here, right? Because I will not appreciate you guys ignoring me at school after we just played this game together," Chuck was being serious, but of course he was saying it in a funny way.

His friends laughed. Kaylee spoke, "Okay, so all seven of us here are friends. Admittedly, we're not all that close yet, but I feel like we can get there really quickly and easily. That's why we're going to stay in this group of friends. You have a problem, go to anyone of the six other people in this group and nobody else. This is how friendships start and last, you guys."

Everyone nodded, almost everyone smiling. Chuck stated, "We also all must hang out together as often as possible! Any combination of the seven of us, just... hang out with one another as much as you can."

"I feel like this is a sort of cult or something," Alex said a little quietly, but they all heard him and laughed.

"No, but honestly, this is an elite group. I'm glad we're all able to be friends. And everyone will do what was mentioned," Blaise finalized, to everyone's agreement.

Suddenly, the beautiful Summer day vanished, and in its wake left a bundle of grey clouds and dark skies. Apparently, the weather wanted to screw over the Malfoy's party tenfold, because the dark clouds let out all the rain they had gathered up. Since everyone who had attended the party was outside, lots of squeals and shrieks were heard, mostly from women and girls who wished to remain dry.

Everybody ran inside to avoid the falling water. Some people even left the party all together. Doors and windows were slammed shut and locked, as Briana stared out of one. She was greatly confused by the drastic change in weather, wondering why it was so out of order, and if it had anything to do with the wizarding world. Her questions were answered when she heard a distressed Missus Malfoy telling nearly everyone to leave immediately, and that the party was now called off.

Letha, Kaylee, Alex, Blaise and Chuck were all ordered home right away, but Briana noticed that Chuck's father stayed behind as Draco joined her at her side. Looking around, she further realized that the only remaining people were Death Eaters, other than herself and Draco. They were all filing into a room in the back of the house. Mister and Missus Brightsman themselves passed the two of them. Perseus stopped when he saw his daughter, then said, "Briana, you really need to go home. Now." He kept walking.

"They're having a meeting," Draco told her. "You-know-who has called a meeting. I really don't know why though."

Narcissa came running back into the house, looking as stressed and pained as ever. Her son stopped her, "Mother, what's the matter?"

"Those who have been caught at the Ministry were just taken. But some of them were able to get away, like your Aunt Bella. That's why the Dark Lord has called us together."

"Where's father?"

She fanned her face as she struggled to keep her tears back, "He was taken."

Briana watched sadly as Draco's face turned cold, hugging his mother before she ran off to the meeting. The two friends stood there, watching the door shut behind Narcissa. Briana looked up at Draco.

"Are you okay?", she asked him.

He stood idle for a moment, before holding her hand, saying, "We should go upstairs."

And they did.


	17. Chapter 16

Draco and Briana were on Draco's bed, he sitting and she laying down with her head on his lap. Understandably, they couldn't hear anything that was going on in the meeting. Every now and then, however, they would hear yelling, which they assumed came from You-Know-Who. The thought of him being in the same building as her gave Briana the chills.

"Do they have meetings here very often?", she asked Draco.

"This is where all of them are held, lately. It's like their Headquarters for the time being."

"How can you stand to be under the same roof as all of them, not knowing what they're doing and not lose your mind?"

He shrugged, "I've gotten used to it." He began to play with her hair, "Besides, you're with me this time."

"Very true," she smiled at him fondly. "I hope I don't get in trouble for staying with you."

"Either way, I'm glad that you did."

"How long do these meetings usually last?"

"It's difficult to say. Most of the time they're pretty lengthy, but every now and then they just have a really quick one."

Twenty more minutes passed them by, as the rain continued to strike the windows. The sad, dark sky seemed to be growing darker every minute. It was as if the happiness was leaving their world, never to be seen again. Usually, Briana loved the rain but the current circumstance darkened her mood and frankly scared her. Draco seemed to be saddened by the turn of events, especially given the fact that his father was now in Azkaban. He wasn't in a talking mood, and Briana felt that if she tried to get him to talk, she would be interrupting his deep and important thoughts.

Instead of attempting to strike up any conversations with her friend, she put some soft, instrumental music on. Eventually, Draco closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to fall asleep. Seeing this action from him, Briana made him switch positions with her so that she was sitting up, and he was laying down with his head on her lap. She heard his breathing get deeper and more even, making her believe he was now asleep. Not having much to do, she began to put her hair into a side braid.

Just when she was tying the end, there was a quick knock on the door so loud, it woke Draco up. The person didn't even wait for a reply, bursting through the door. It was Briana's father, Perseus, looking rather distraught. He looked surprised to see his daughter sitting on the bed.

"Briana, I thought I told you to go home."

"I didn't want to leave Draco here all alone," she answered her father.

He dismissed the conversation and got back to the reason he went up there, "Draco, your presence is required downstairs. Immediately."

"In the meeting?!", Briana looked scared.

"What for?!", Draco sat up and got off the bed.

"Nobody knows except for the Dark Lord. Come now. Briana, use the fireplace up here to get home right away."

Draco shook his head vigorously, "No, no, please let her stay. Whatever happens down there, I don't want to be alone tonight."

With her eyes full of nervousness, shock and confusion, Briana pleaded with her father silently. Staring back at her eyes, he finally gave in, nodding, "Alright, you can stay. But remain upstairs no matter what. Please. Now Draco, come. I'm certain that we've already taken too long."

Perseus Brightsman ushered Draco out of his bedroom as he glanced at Briana, who attempted to send her friend a reassuring smile. The door was shut firmly behind them as they made their way downstairs to the where the Death Eaters were awaiting their arrival. Briana groaned loudly before face planting onto Draco's bed. After laying there for a moment, she took her jewelry and dress off and climbed under the covers, turning the television on with the volume set extremely quiet.

On the first floor, Draco Malfoy gulped in anxiety as Mister Brightsman turned the doorknob and entered the room full of Voldemort's followers. Draco was set a bit more at ease, however, noticing that more than half of the Death Eaters had left. He quickly followed after his only remaining father figure, spotting his mother. Narcissa looked extremely depressed and frail at this point, as she watched her son walk towards her. You-Know-Who's red, snake-like eyes fell upon Draco's fearful, pale face, white-blonde hair and scared blue eyes.

"Ah, Draco, we've been anticipating your arrival."

The seven remaining Death Eaters watched the teenage boy intently as he stopped walking, wondering if he was supposed to sit in the empty seat along side his mother, or walk up to the leader himself.

"Yes, have a seat next to your mother."

The evil man continued to stare at him as he did what he was told to, and sat in the chair. His mother looked at him, her eyes glossy like she was doing all that she could not to cry hysterically. When he had sat down and turned his attention to the Dark Lord, the rest of the people in the room turned to look at him as well.

"We've been discussing a very important task that must be done this year, Draco. I have pondered many times who I should bestow this task upon. Just this evening I came to the conclusion that my initial plan to have you carry out this deed was the best one."

Draco didn't say anything, just continued to stare back at Voldemort's red eyes.

"I'd like to think you would happily take on this task," he said. "But perhaps you'd first like to know what it is I'm asking of you."

Swallowing hard nervously, the boy nodded once, wondering what he would tell him he was supposed to do.

"Eliminate Albus Dumbledore. Seeing as you are to return to Hogwarts in a few days, it would be a perfect inside job to assign you. You are to kill your headmaster. Are you up for this task, Draco?"

It was beginning to become difficult for Draco to breathe. Voldemort wanted him to murder Professor Dumbledore? He was only sixteen, not to mention the fact that he wasn't even a Death Eater. But the boy knew he had no choice; he had to take the job. If he didn't, it would put he and his mother in an even worse place than they already were. The Dark Lord currently had something against the Malfoy's, since Lucius messed up the take over of the Ministry earlier this year. So with deep sorrow and hesitation, Draco nodded his head.

Voldemort smiled, receiving the answer he wanted and knew he was going to get. He motioned for Draco to come to him with his pale white, bony finger. The sixteen-year-old stood up shakily, putting one foot in front of the other until he was at You-Know-Who's side.

"I need to make absolutely certain that you are true to your word, and will complete your task of eliminating Albus Dumbledore in any way possible. I need to make certain that you are loyal to me, and will try your hardest. I need to make you one of my own. Hold out your arm."

Narcissa let a single tear fall as she put her hands to her mouth. Realizing what was about to happen, Draco's mind went numb and the blood drained from his face as he outstretched his arm in front of the heartless creature. His mother looked away as the Dark Lord rolled up his shirt sleeve and put his white wand to Draco's forearm. Black light shot from his wand as the Dark Mark began to show up on the young Malfoy's skin.

Sharp pains shot through Draco's arm as he was being branded. At first, he was able to hold back any screams by biting on his tongue, but not long after, the terrified boy was forced to express his pain outwardly. He screamed loudly, making Narcissa flinch and close her eyes tightly. Upstairs, Briana heard his cries and, realizing it was Draco, she gasped and got out of the bed, running to the door. She was about to open it, when she recalled what her father told her about staying put. She slowly and hesitantly went back to her spot under the covers, worrying even more than before.

After a minute, the spell was complete and Draco Malfoy was branded. He looked down at his arm. The black skull and snake clashed magnificently against his pale white skin. Now, Draco worked for Lord Voldemort. He stood there, rubbing his sore arm, unsure if he was supposed to remain standing there. He looked to his new master, who smiled evilly, then suddenly disapparated.

The rest of the Death Eaters disapparated as well, some of them sending Draco looks of pity. The only people now left in the meeting room were Narcissa, Bellatrix, Anais and Perseus Brightsman, and Draco himself. Bellatrix and Anais went to comfort Narcissa as Perseus gave Draco a hug and told him to be careful and wished him luck. Briana's parents then quickly left through the front door to their home, next door. Draco's mother and aunt walked up to him.

"Oh my sweet boy, I'm so sorry," Mrs. Malfoy embraced Draco in a tight warm hug. "I'm so so sorry I couldn't do anything to stop this. I love you so much."

"Mother, this isn't your fault. Stop apologizing."

The woman regained her composure, "Your aunt Bella and I are going to Severus to see if he can help us out to any extent. Stay here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

He nodded, and watched as the two women held hands then quickly disapparated. Draco sighed and sat on the cold, hardwood floor of the entrance hall. He stared at his left arm, looking with distaste and sorrow at the black mark that now resided there. This symbol on his skin was going to cause great hysteria in Briana. He solemnly walked up the stairs, back to his bedroom where his best friend was waiting for him. He entered his room and shut the door behind him. Hearing his entrance, Briana sat up immediately.

"Are you alright? I heard you screaming. What happened?!", she had several emotions on her face, all of them negative.

"I've been given a task," he told her simply.

"What?! What task?! You're not even an official follower of his!"

"I'm supposed to kill Professor Dumbledore this school year."

The girl was speechless, "Are... Are you serious? You're going to kill your headmaster?"

He nodded sadly, avoiding her eyes.

"Draco, this is mental. He can't make you do that, you don't work for him."

"I do now," he told her with tears in his sad blue eyes, finally meeting her gaze.

"...what are you telling me... Draco..."

He showed her his arm, "Now you're best friends with a Death Eater."

Briana stared in horror at the dark mark that was now etched onto Draco's left forearm. He was indeed one of Voldemort's followers, now. Willing herself not to cry, she forced her eyes back to Draco's, which were freely letting tears fall at this point.

"Draco... I'm not... I don't know what to say," her voice started to break as her mind filled with thousands of concerns and fears for her friend. She didn't want anything to happen to him.

"Then don't say anything. Just come lay with me. Please. That's all I want."

"Yes, of course, Love."

He furiously wiped his face of all the tears before Briana took his hand and lead him to his bed. She got back under the covers and watched him as he silently removed his shoes, socks, jacket and tie. The sad boy didn't even bother to take off anything else as he joined his friend under the warm comforter. Draco turned to face her on the bed and held out his arms for her to cuddle with him. She moved over then laid down, facing him as he wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in a hug.

The pair of them laid like that for almost an hour before Draco spoke sleepily, "I love you." A couple seconds later, Briana heard his breathing even out and deepen, signaling to her that he was now asleep.

"I love you too," she whispered to him, despite the fact he couldn't hear her.

Briana closed her chocolate brown eyes, a silent tear falling as she fell into a deep slumber.

Out in the cold, wet night, Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange appeared in Birmingham, England. They were at the end of an old friend's street; Spinner's End. Hoisting the hoods of their cloaks over their heads, the two sisters walked through a labyrinth of brick houses. Narcissa's sister was still reluctant about paying this man a visit, but she wasn't able to change Narcissa's mind.

"Cissy!", Lestrange used her sister's nickname. "You mustn't do this! He can't be trusted."

"The Dark Lord trusts him," the blonde replied to her.

"The Dark Lord is mistaken!"

Narcissa stared at her sister, shocked to hear the words escape her mouth. Bellatrix looked shocked herself as the rain only began to fall harder.

"Or, so I believe...", she corrected herself.

"Well, who can one trust anymore?"

Mrs. Malfoy gave three firm knocks on the door, and who should answer but Wormtail, looking as nasty and rodent-like as ever. He smiled oddly at the pair of them before leading them down a narrow hallway in the dark home. They entered a dimly lit sitting room, the only illumination coming from what little light the windows provided as rain collided heavily with its glass. The man they came to visit was reading the Daily Prophet, his face being hidden by the paper. Upon hearing them enter, the paper was set down to reveal Severus Snape, eyeing the sisters curiously.

"Run along now, Wormtail," his cold voice echoed as he used his wand to force the door shut.

The tall man took hold of three goblets and a skinny bottle of red wine. He filled all three of the goblets up, handing one to each of the women, and sipping from the third one himself. Bellatrix downed half of her serving in one go, while Narcissa simply glanced at the beverage, speaking instead.

"I have nowhere else to turn, Severus."

Snape watched her carefully as he sat down in his seat again, and Narcissa took a seat as well, while Bella roamed around the room looking at everything inhabiting the space.

"I know I ought not to be here. The Dark Lord himself has forbidden me to speak of this-"

"If the Dark Lord has forbidden you to speak of such things, you're better off doing so."

"But Severus-", she pleaded.

"As it so happens," he cut her off. "I am aware of your situation, Narcissa."

"You?!", Bellatrix looked skeptical. "The Dark Lord told you? I was under the belief that there was a reason you weren't one of the people at the meeting when Draco was given the Dark Mark. You know he ordered all of the Death Eaters to leave, other than a select few."

"Your sister doubts me, Narcissa," Severus had the faintest of smiles on his face. "Understandable."

Draco's mother watched Snape as he continued to speak, "Over the years, I have played my part well. So well, in fact, that I have been able to deceive one of the greatest wizards of all time."

From the back of the room, Bellatrix made a scathing noise.

"Dumbledore is a great wizard. Only a fool would question that fact," he informed the frowning woman.

"I... I don't doubt you, Severus," Narcissa told her friend.

Her sister rolled her eyes, growing tired of her ungratefulness, feeling as if taking on the task was the greatest privilege, "You should be honored, Cissy. As should Draco-"

"But he's just a boy! He's sixteen, and my only son!"

"I can't change the Dark Lord's mind. But it might be possible for me to help Draco. To provide him some... protection," the thoughtful man spoke slowly.

There was a twinkle of some chance of hope in Narcissa's eyes, "Severus, do you mean it?"

"I can try."

"Oh, Severus, please, if you would... I would be forever in your debt."

"Swear to it," Bellatrix Lestrange spoke more seriously than she has in years.

Both Snape and Malfoy's eyes shifted to stare at the lady, who began to walk towards Severus, whispering, "Make the unbreakable vow. You see... It's just empty words. Oh, he'll try. He'll give it his best effort. But when it matters most..." She was circling him now, "he'll slither back into his hole. Bloody coward..."

He eyed her dangerously, "Take out your wand."

She stared at him for a moment before taking her wand out of her pocket and holding it in her right hand. Bellatrix made her sister stand up with Severus to make them face each other. The two of them linked their hands together, holding tightly onto each other's wrists. Bellatrix held her wand out over their joined arms.

"Will you, Severus Snape, watch over Draco Malfoy as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"I will," Snape didn't take his eyes off of Narcissa, who stared back at him. A strand of liquid fire emerged from her wand and wrapped around their arms.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will."

A second strand of fire joined the first.

"And should it prove necessary, if it seems Draco will fail... will you yourself carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

Hesitating for a second, Snape answered, "I will."

The last strand of liquid fire intertwined with the other two, before they latched onto Severus and Narcissa's arms. The deal was now sealed; they made the Unbreakable Vow. Pulling their arms away from each other, Narcissa eyed Snape carefully, slightly smiling gratefully with glossy eyes.

The next morning, the sky had cleared up quite a bit, but it wasn't as beautiful as it had been prior to the devastating events that occurred the night before. Nevertheless, the sun was still revealing itself to the world, thought there were several clouds in the way of its rays. Draco Malfoy sat up in his bed, his eyelids fluttering open. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned, then looked to his right to see that he was alone in his bed. However, a moment later he found that he wasn't really by himself when his bathroom door opened and Briana came out of it. She smiled at him.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Given what took place last night, I slept extremely well. Thanks to you," he half smiled back at her.

"Don't mention it."

Briana walked over to his side of the bed where he sat, still under the covers. She was wearing a large blue sweatshirt of Draco's and a pair of her own pajama shorts, which Draco wondered how she had come to obtain during the time she was in his home. She ran her fingers through her friend's hair as if she was combing out his bed head.

"Fancy some breakfast in bed?", Draco asked her.

"Sounds brilliant."

"Mika!" Mika the house elf quickly appeared at the door of the bedroom.

"Bring us some pancakes, bacon, poached eggs and coffee."

"Yes, right away, master Malfoy," she apparated away and returned two minutes later with all they had asked for.

The two friends instantly began consuming the meal, as they discussed their plans for the day.

"I don't believe I have anything to do today," Draco confessed.

"Well, my mother and I are supposed to visit my old dance studio to find myself a new teacher to give me private lessons at home, during holidays. You should come with me, if you'd like."

"In that case, consider me your companion for the day."

She smiled at him as they finished their breakfast. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and once Draco had said for the person to come in, his aunt Bellatrix waltzed in. Draco and Briana were both surprised to see her, and judging by the way she eyed Briana, Bellatrix was surprised to see her there.

"I see you took my words to heart, nephew."

"That's not... No, she just slept over here..."

"Oh stop defending yourself, I was only half joking!", she giggled psychotically. "Well you better get dressed, Draco. Your lessons start soon and I haven't much patience."

"Lessons? What lessons?", Draco asked confused.

"Did you honestly think you'd dive into this task without any training? Your mother and I thought it wise that I give you some lessons to help you out this year."

"Oh...", he turned to Briana. "Sorry, I guess I do have something to do today."

"It's alright, just come tell me how it goes later," Briana sent him a look of encouragement and his aunt a smile before she left the house with her clothes from last night in hand.

Bellatrix watched her walk down the stairs before turning back to her nephew who was now standing up and cracking his neck.

"Now that she's gone, you can tell me what you two did," the look of excitement on her face is probably what frightened Draco the most.

"You're barking, you know."

A week passed them by, during which Briana and Draco never saw each other. They were both busy lately, what with him being bombarded with lessons from Bellatrix and Severus, and her having to impress a refined personal teacher who had asked to see her dance a few times before he finally agreed to teach her. By the end of the week, Draco had successfully been taught Occlumency, how to use quite a few spells non-verbally, and was showed how to cast the three unforgivable curses, which he refused to practice and insisted that he was able to learn perfectly well from watching and listening. Now, the already heavily talented Draco had been turned into a very powerful young wizard.

Briana had to dance for Taylor Jones, her new dance instructor, four separate times before he deemed her incredibly talented and worthy of his time. She had also gone shopping with Letha and Kaylee downtown one day at several boutiques. Chuck and Alex treated her to ice cream at Lulu's before they went to Blaise's house and talked about what had happened the other night. Briana didn't mention to them that Draco had been made a Death Eater, thinking it was private business that wasn't meant to be thrown out in the open so obliviously. Throughout the week, Briana had also been exchanging owls with Justin, telling him all about how things have been going and he excitedly informing her that he was meant to have a meeting a bit after the school year started with a record producer.

Draco and Briana didn't see each other until the end of the week when the two of them met up with Blaise at Malfoy Manor. The two of them informed Blaise that Draco had been made a Death Eater and told him of the task he was given. Hearing of this, Blaise went off on a rant about this is why his family never got into that business and didn't want his friends to either. After he had calmed down enough to continue a regular conversation, Draco told his two friends about what he'd been learning all week. They were both impressed with all he was able to pick up, Blaise even making a comment that he must now be more advanced than the seventh years. The three of them ended their day making plans to go to Diagon Alley together the next day, and Briana said she would inform the others in their group of the plan.


	18. Chapter 17

It was the day that the group of seven friends had all planned to go to Diagon Alley together. Alas, only half of them actually went. Apparently, Letha and Kaylee had already done their school shopping together earlier that week, and Chuck never bought his own supplies. Therefore, it was just Alex, Briana, Blaise and Draco shopping together. The four of them set out to the Leaky Cauldron at noon, the weather improving greatly by that time. It was rather warm again, making Briana a bit more relaxed than she'd been lately.

They entered Diagon Alley through the back wall, and the sight of it was nothing like Briana had imagined it. From what her friends had been telling her, she was expecting a colorful, bright, loud and busy atmosphere with several witches and wizards picking up their school supplies. The Diagon Alley before them was dark, quiet, mysterious, rather empty and quite eerie. The boys themselves were quite shocked at what they saw, what with half the shops in the alley being empty and boarded up.

There didn't seem to be hardly anyone else shopping, other than occasional grown witches and wizards doing the shopping for their children on their own, or the huge groups of families and friends who thought it wise to stick together. More than anything else, the experience was depressing. The place everyone had grown to love and know as their go-to supplier for all their study needs was completely different and almost unrecognizable.

"I wish we didn't have to come here today," Blaise said sourly.

"Why is that?", Draco asked him.

"Because now whenever I think of this place, I'll only be able to see it in this way."

Draco nodded, feeling the same way as he looked around at all the broken down shops with nothing in their windows but dust and spiderwebs. He turned to his friends, "Well, should we just buy our text books? That's all we really need, other than personal things."

"Flourish and Blotts, then?", Blaise asked, agreeing with him.

"If it's still open," Alex muttered darkly before they began walking.

Luckily, the book store wasn't shut down, and they were all able to purchase their text books with ease. Briana also bought herself extra novels to read for fun, even picking one up for Chuck. They asked the witch at the counter of Flourish and Blotts to please send all of their books to Brightsman Manor, so they wouldn't have to heave them around all afternoon. Next, Blaise remembered he needed a set of new quills, so the four of them made their way to Amanuensis Quills for such things. Blaise, Alex and Draco all begged Briana to accompany them to Quality Quidditch Supplies where they could marvel over Quidditch-related objects that they didn't really need.

While the boys admired the various brooms, uniforms, posters and quaffles, Alex informed Briana that all three of them were on the Slytherin Quidditch team, plus Chuck. Draco was the Seeker, Chuck was a beater, and Blaise and Alex were both Chasers. They left the store empty handed except for Blaise, who seemed rather happy about a purchase he made on a pair of new dragonhide Quidditch gloves. Draco suddenly mentioned that he was due to meet Narcissa at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. On the side, he noted to Briana and Blaise that afterward, he and his mother would make a trip to Borgin and Burke's to find some device called a vanishing cabinet that he was meant to mend as part of his mission.

After Draco had slipped away, Briana forced Alex and Blaise to come into Twilfitt and Tatting's with her so she could look at clothes. When they protested against the idea, she mentioned the fact that they'd dragged her into the Quidditch shop, which made them agree to go inside. The pair of them sat on some benches as she looked around at several dresses. She took three of them off the racks and headed to the dressing room. Trying all three of them on, she made Blaise and Alex tell her which one looked best.

Thirty minutes later, the two of them agreed that she looked ravishing in a very light pink ruffled dress with a black bow. After arguing with them that it was barely pink, she purchased the garment for 145 galleons. Walking out of the store, Blaise was apparently still confused.

"I still don't quite understand," he pressed. "Why would you spend that much money on a dress? Do you have any idea how many entire outfits I could buy myself with that much?"

"I suppose it's a girl thing!", Briana truthfully couldn't think of any reason herself.

"I'm really hungry. Food now please?", Alex whined.

"Come then, Booboo. Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron," she linked her arm with his and began walking to said pub.

"Did she seriously just call you 'Booboo'?"

Inside the Leaky Cauldron, Alex had ordered a large serving of Shepherd's pie while Blaise and Briana shared an order of Fish and Chips. They all sipped on Italian sodas as Blaise thought it an appropriate time to strike up a particular conversation.

"So, Briana," he began. "I've been dying to ask you... How are your feelings towards Malfoy?"

"What in Merlin's name do you mean by that?"

"What I mean to say is, do you ever think you like him as more than just a friend?"

"And why, may I ask, is this any of your business?", she watched him carefully.

"I'm just a curious friend looking for some answers. Come now, it's not like I'm going to go off and tell him."

Alex stared at Briana as if he was expecting her to answer as well.

"Well I'll admit that I've thought about such things before, but... I'm not exactly sure how I feel about him right now. He's my best friend, you know."

"I see, I see. But you admit that there's a possibility of you liking him as something more than a best friend?", Blaise looked hopeful.

"Sure," she answered shyly.

"Aw, for once, you're being the timid one," Alex nudged her causing her to laugh and roll her eyes.

"Well what about you, Blaise?", Briana asked him. "You have your eye on anyone?"

"Not really," he answered quickly before taking a long sip on his mint-colored Italian soda.

"Oh, that's rubbish! There has to be someone!"

"We all saw you making googly eyes at Letha at the Malfoy's party, mate," Alex pointed out.

Blaise threw him a look, "I wasn't making googly eyes at anyone. Sure, I find her extremely attractive, but I don't think I'm exactly ready to be tied down yet."

She shook her head, "Looks like you've still got some growing up to do, Sweet Cheeks."

"Okay, Draco is Dray, Alex is Booboo and now I'm Sweet Cheeks? What's with all these pet names?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I suppose I just like making nicknames for people."

"Right. So why am I Sweet Cheeks again?"

"It just came to me. Probably has to do with your glorious cheek bones," she poked them as he playfully swatted her hand away.

"And why is Alex Booboo?"

"Because he's such a baby. All adorable and innocent and whatnot."

Blaise broke out in uncontrollable laughter as Alex face palmed and sighed deeply. Briana gave him a side hug, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you!"

"No, it's alright..."

All at once, the door to the Leaky Cauldron swung open and their good friend Draco Malfoy re-joined them, sitting down next to Alex and across from Blaise. He looked somewhat despondent again as he reached across the table and drank the rest of Briana's beverage. She and Alex sent him concerned looks as Blaise asked him if he was alright. He told them he was just tired, which the three of them only pretended to believe. Suddenly, Briana noticed a collection of extremely vibrant colors out of the corner of her eye. She looked out of the window facing Diagon Alley and saw that the colors were a building; a shop called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The brightly colored and notably busy store stuck out in the area like a sore thumb, making Briana wonder why she didn't notice it before.

"We need to go into that purple and orange shop there!", she demanded.

"What, the Weasley's shop?", Blaise asked her curiously.

"Yes! It looks brilliant!"

"No. We're not going into any store run by any of the Weasley's," Draco stated bitterly.

"Oh, why not?!", she begged him.

"I despise every single one of the Weasley's. Not to mention, they've probably got a restraining order against me framed on the wall of that bloody shop of theirs."

"I won't go either. They're blood traitors, first of all. Second of all, I've never been on good terms with any the Weasley's either," Blaise added.

"Fine! I'll just go with Alex then! You will come, won't you?"

"Of course! Looks pretty wicked to me," Alex half smiled at the eager girl.

"Smashing! Let's go then! We'll meet you two back here later," with that, the two of them set off to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Approaching the brilliantly colorful shop, Briana and Alex could hear several loud noises coming from inside. It looked like great fun and neither of them could wait to get inside. Before they did so, the pair of them stopped outside to read a poster hanging in the window.

"WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO? YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO : THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!"

Both of them laughed loudly before running into the store. It was packed with people! Looking at the shelves, Briana saw that there wasn't all that much left on them, and that several were currently being magically refilled every minute. It was noisy and colorful inside, filling both of them up with a good vibe and straight happiness.

The two friends weaved through the large amount of people, straining to get a look at whatever they could. In one area of the lively store, there were muggle magic tricks, in another there were shelves and shelves of Skiving Snackboxes. Another part of the store held products from a line the Weasley's called WonderWitch Products, selling things such as Pygmy Puffs, Love Potions and Ten-Second Pimple Vanishers. There were also fireworks, defensive artifacts, practical joke toys and more.

Briana and Alex looked around wondrously at everything, taking it all in. They instantly began to pick things up that they thought were worth buying, soon having a bit of a pile in their arms. Briana had several Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder coals, Nosebleed Nougats, Fainting Fancies and some Glow-In-The-Dark Bubblegum. Alex picked up a Spell-Checking Quill (because he has dreadful spelling, as he told Briana), some Patented Daydream Charms that he got for Blaise and himself, and a light pink Pygmy Puff that he was intending on giving to Chuck's little sister, Catherine.

The pair of them looked around for the Weasley twins. They figured they would be easy to recognize, seeing as their faces were on the packaging of more than half of their products. Finally, halfway up some stairs, Alex spotted the twins talking to the Golden Trio. In this group of people, Ron Weasley pointed out Briana and Alex walking towards them.

"There's that friend of Malfoy's from the other night," he said.

"With Alex Whittaker," Harry added, looking where Ron was.

"Is she the girl you two were telling me about?", Hermione asked her friends, who nodded in response.

"She some kind of transfer student?", Fred asked, not knowing anything they were talking about.

"In a way. She's good friends with Malfoy apparently and is coming to Hogwarts this year," Ron explained, watching her and Alex get closer.

"But the thing is, she wasn't rude to us at all in anyway. She was actually really nice," Harry said.

"Alex is relatively nice as well, actually," Hermione stated.

"So Malfoy has nice friends, yeah?", George asked them.

"For now. I suspect it's all an act," Ron gave his opinion.

"Rubbish, Ron. Just because they hang out with Malfoy does not mean they have to be pricks. I bet they're genuinely nice people," Hermione concluded as Alex and Briana approached them.

"Hi," Briana smiled at them. "Um... Are we supposed to give you the money for all this?"

Fred looked at his brother,"Technically, not directly, but the lines are really long-"

"-so we'll make an exception," George finished, inspecting what the two of them had in their hands before telling them the total.

Briana insisted that she pay for it all as a way to show her appreciation of Alex's company, which Alex told her was ridiculous and he ought to pay for his own things. They went back and forth like this for a little while, as the others watched them. Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ron as if to show off that she was right in saying the two of them were good people, which Ron was still skeptical about and crossed his arms.

Alex finally gave in to his friend as she victoriously dropped a handful of Galleons, Knuts and Sickles into Fred Weasley's hand.

"Keep the change," she told them as the twins quickly counted it out.

"We're not allowed to do that, pretty," George told her.

"Sure you can! Just think of it as a donation to your business so you may continue to make these brilliantly outstanding products."

"In that case, consider yourself an investor," Fred smiled happily, handing them medium-sized boxes to put their purchased items in. "Our good friend Harry here was our first investor."

Harry awkwardly gave her a wave as she smiled at him too, "Smashing. Well you be sure to let me know when you make any major developments, yeah?"

"Will do," Fred saluted Briana, as she and Alex sent the group one last smile and exited the store which was still awash with delighted shoppers.

The two of them walked back to the Leaky Cauldron to find Blaise and Draco sharing a nearly empty box of Sugared Butterfly Wings. They seemed to be indulged in an important and rather serious conversation, peeking both Alex and Briana's interests. The pair had hoped to hear part of the discussion, but once Blaise had seen them enter the restaurant, he threw Draco a look and smiled widely at his two friends.

"Oh, hi Briana! Hi Alex! We were just beginning to wonder where you two were!", Blaise spoke rather oddly.

He and Draco both stood up as their friends stopped in front of them. "It was really busy in there, sorry," Briana told them before eyeing them suspiciously, "What were you two talking about while we were away?"

"Nothing, just Quidditch of course," Draco said.

Briana nodded, buying the story, but Alex shot a look at the two of them.

Ignoring the sort of glare he was receiving from Alex, Blaise spoke loudly, "SO! Shall we go to Briana's house now?"

"Yes, of course!", she said happily, eager to show him and Alex her home for the first time.

The four of them began to walk to the fire place in the Leaky Cauldron as Draco stared at Briana, then took some of her shopping bags, "Here, let me help you."

"Oh, thank you, Dray!", she gave him a side hug as Draco smirked at Blaise, the two of them receiving another dirty look of suspicion, courtesy of Alex.

Using the floo network, all four of them appeared in the fireplace located in the large living room of Brightsman Manor. Stepping out, the three boys looked around curiously. It was Blaise and Alex's first time in the mansion, and Draco hadn't been inside of it in years. Looking curiously at all the furniture, pictures and whatnot in the elegant room, Blaise couldn't help but ask about the large glass case filled with numerous, shiny awards.

"What's all this?", he asked Briana.

"Oh. That's my trophy case. My parents like to show off everything I win," she explained.

"Wait, seriously? In 16 years, you've won all this?", Blaise asked incredulously as he admired the various trophies, tiaras, sashes and medals that were on display in the case.

"See, I told you she always wins. Those are all from dance competitions," Draco seemed to be proud of his friend's accomplishments.

"Alright, I do not always win," Briana tried to remain humble.

"From the looks of it, you actually do," said Alex, surely.

Briana gave him a look as Blaise spoke again, "So when do I get to see you dance? You must be brilliant! There must be at least a hundred awards in here."

"Well whenever I feel like having a visitor, I'll let you sit in on one of my lessons or something," she smiled at him.

"Me too!", Draco chimed in, sounding much like his younger self. "It's been a while since I've seen your moves."

Briana laughed, "In that case, perhaps I will conduct a special performance for all of you."

"Brilliant!", the three of them said in unison.

Suddenly, Briana's father, Perseus, entered the room with the Daily Prophet in his hand as always.

"Oh, hello," he said, surprised to see them. "Nice to see you again, Blaise, Draco." He nodded at them.

Perseus turned to Alex, eyeing him carefully, "You wouldn't happen to be Chuck, would you?"

"No! Father, this is my good friend Alex. He was at the party the other day."

"Right. Very good. Well it's nice to meet you, Alex. So I see you've gotten the supplies you needed and then some," he said, glancing at the bags that sat on the couch.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist going into Twilfitt and Tattings," she told her father sheepishly.

"Just as long as you don't spend my money on useless or illegal items," he patted his daughter's shoulder before smiling around the room again, then went to exit the room.

"Oh! I almost forgot!", he said, stopping abruptly in the doorway. "A parcel came for you in the post today. I believe it may be from Justin." He left the room.

Draco made a rather disgusted face at his best friend, "Justin? As in your ex-boyfriend? What's he got to send you?"

"Now, now, Malfoy, don't lose yourself over a silly package," Blaise scolded him mockingly.

Briana left the living room laughing at her friends, and went into the entry hall. There on the front table was a medium sized, light brown paper parcel with blue ribbon around it. The tag placed on its front read "To Briana, From JJ." She laughed, reading the nickname he signed it with.

Bringing the parcel with her back to her friends in the living room, Briana sat down and began to delicately rip the paper. Inside, there was something that felt like cloth wrapped in more paper with a small note on top.

"What does that say?", Blaise asked curiously.

"It says... 'I was looking for a sweater to wear to a dinner party and was so desperate for something nice to put on that I looked in my special drawer. I came across many things, one of them being this. I thought I should give it back to you, seeing as I probably shouldn't be wearing it, although I might feel the need to. Love, Justin.' Oh goody, what is it?!", Briana was excited.

"LOVE Justin? What on earth?", Draco looked annoyed.

"Come off it, Dray. We're just good friends," she reprimanded her friend as she now viciously shredded off the paper. She gasped then giggled happily, seeing what had been sent to her.

"What is it?", Alex asked her.

"It's a sweatshirt of mine!", she held up a light blue crewneck sweater that had the words "Never stop dreaming" written on it in black along with a mickey mouse head.

"Why did he have it in a 'special drawer' of his?", Blaise wanted to know.

"He came to me one day and was feeling down and discouraged, career-wise, so I told him I had a special sweater to lend him for good luck and encouragement. I gave him this one, he put it on and kept it until now," Briana gave them the back story.

"How adorable," Draco said slightly sarcastically.

"Oh shush, you know you're just jealous," she teased him.

"Maybe so," he stated as he raised her eyebrows at her, making her laugh and blush lightly at the same time.

"Well this was a pleasant surprise," she said, throwing the packaging away, but putting the note in her pocket and the sweater on the arm of the couch.

"Speaking of surprises, I need to give Catherine her present," Alex said, standing up. "Somebody come with?"

"Me!", Briana raised her hand. "I owe Cat some piano lessons."

"I think we'll hang about here for a while," Draco said casually.

"Oh, alright. Well it's just you and I again, dear Alex. Let's go!", Briana and Alex went into the fireplace and appeared in Chuck's.

They found Catherine and Chuck sitting at the coffee table in their living room playing an intense game of Go Fish. Hearing them pop up in the fireplace, the Solomon's looked over, delighted to see Alex and Briana. Cat looked especially happy to see both of them, running up to Alex and hugging his legs, yelling, "Uncle Alex!"

She in turn gave Briana a hug as well, before she noticed Alex hiding something behind his back. She jumped up and down, demanding to know what it was. After making little Cat promise to take good care of what he was about to present to her, he gave her the fluffy pink pygmy puff. The little girl squealed and gasped, taking the creature in her hands. She excitedly gave Alex another hug, then sat down with her new pet, stroking it lovingly.

"You got her a present but not me?", Chuck half-joked, pouting his lip.

"I like her better than you, obviously," Alex teased. Briana noticed that whenever Chuck was around, Alex spoke quite a bit more than he would otherwise.

"Oh, I got you a book! But I accidentally left it at home. I'll give it to you when school begins," Briana told him.

"Glad to know someone cares about me," he gave Briana a hug glaring at Alex in a joking manner, causing the both of them to laugh.

"I'm gonna name her Alana!", Cat suddenly shouted. "I chose her name! Alana! I'm so smart! Wanna know why that's her name?"

"Do tell," said Briana.

"Alana is spelled like A-l-a-n-a, you know. So the A-l part is from Alex's name, and the a-n-a part is from Briana's name! She has part of both of your names now. Because you two are my favorites," the six-year-old explained proudly.

"Aw! That's so cute!", Briana gushed. "You're so creative!"

"Wait, what about me?! Aren't I your favorite?!", Chuck stared at his younger sister.

"I mean they are my favorite people besides you, silly goose. And I already named my new teddy bear after you so that you're always with me. Even when you go to school," she told him.

"AW!", Briana outburst, smiling brightly at Cat. Alex smiled too as Chuck gave her a big hug.

"You mean the teddy bear that mum gave you yesterday? You named it after me?"

"Yes! Because then if Chuck my brother isn't here to be my friend, then Chuck my bear is here to be my friend until you get back for Christmas."

Chuck smiled at her, "Promise you'll be good when I'm away?"

"Do you promise to visit as soon as you can?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Then I do too!"

The brother and sister then pinky-promised before hugging again. Chuck patted Catherine on the head as she passed him to get to Briana, "Can you teach me some piano now?"

"Of course, love," she took her hand as Cat took her to what she referred to as the party room, where a large white piano stood waiting for them.

During the hour she spent with the six-year-old, Briana learned Cat already knew the keys and even a few basic songs, such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The little girl was also an exceptionally quick learner, and Briana was pleasantly surprised. A bit more than an hour later, the two girls went back downstairs to hear that Alex was staying at the Solomon's. Chuck invited Briana to stay as well, but she said that she ought to get back home.

Climbing out of her fireplace, Briana saw that all her shopping bags and even the sweater from Justin had been taken to her bedroom, probably by one of the house elves. Hearing voices from another room, the 16-year-old followed the noise to the kitchen, where she found Blaise and Draco indulging in large servings of chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

"You're still here?", she asked them, surprised.

"Yeah, thought we'd stick around to annoy you some more," Draco ate a large spoonful of his vanilla treat.

"You guys should just stay the night! Pleaaassseee? My parents won't mind, if they even come back home," she pleaded them.

"I'm in then," Blaise nodded, putting more chocolate sauce on his frozen delectable.

"Alright then, Dray you're obligated to stay now as well, so that's that."

He nodded at her words as she helped herself to some vanilla ice cream of her own. The boys stared at her as if she was mental, however, when she began to put pretzels in it.

"What is the matter with you?!", Blaise asked her, bewildered.

"Oh, shut up! It's delicious!"

"Let me try some of that," Draco snatched the bag of pretzels, putting a couple in his ice cream as well. He ate the combination as Blaise watched distastefully and Briana looked hopeful for a positive reaction.

He nodded and had a look of approval painted on his face, "Not bad, actually. You should try it, Blaise!"

"I told you!", Briana exclaimed.

"Absolutely not! I refuse to try such a ridiculous invention!", he sent Briana's bowl of ice cream and pretzels a look of discontent.

Briana picked up her bowl and got a spoonful of the concoction piled up on her spoon, "We'll see about that. Come here!" She leaned toward him, pushing the spoon towards his mouth.

"No! Stop!", he backed away quickly.

"Come on, just one bite!"

"Leave me alone!", he stood up as she copied him and began to slowly follow him around the kitchen.

"Dray, help me!", she called to her best friend.

He stood behind Briana now, "Zabini, come on, just a taste."

"Not in this life, you fools!"

Briana laughed, "Don't make me force feed you!"

"You wouldn't dare," Blaise challenged her.

"But I would," she eyed him dangerously.

She continued to chase him around the kitchen several times, both of them laughing, though Briana seemed to be enjoying the occasion a bit more than he was. Draco laughed as well, finding the scene entirely entertaining. As Blaise passed him a fourth time, Draco stuck his foot out to trip him. He fell to the floor with a thud. Briana pounced on top of him and tried to force the ice cream on him again.

"Eat it!", she yelled, the ice cream now starting to melt.

"Get off of me!", he squirmed around underneath her. It was exceedingly easy to get free from such a small girl, but just when Blaise was getting up, Draco sat on him as well.

"You guys are suffocating me!", he claimed, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Eat it, then we will get off!", Draco negotiated.

"Are you serious?"

"EAT IT!", Briana shoved the spoon towards him again.

Blaise glared at the food, then ate the portion. Chewing the combination of slightly melted vanilla ice cream and now somewhat soggy pretzels, Blaise's face twisted with disgust.

"Gross! It's all drippy and soggy!", he complained.

"Well," Draco began getting off of his friend. "If you had eaten it when we initially told you to, it would have been delicious."

"You stubborn baby," Briana reprimanded him, putting the spoon on the table.

"Did she seriously just call me that?", he asked Draco, who smirked, nodding.

They all laughed as they finished the remnants of their frozen treats, happily spending the last full day of Summer in content, drunk off of friendship and slightly melted ice cream.


	19. Chapter 18

The first of September; the first day of Hogwarts. Everyone was wide awake and at the train station by 10:50am. The Malfoy's and Brightsman's traveled to King's Cross together, gathering at the wall between platforms nine and ten to say goodbye to their children. Briana said her goodbyes to Narcissa, while Draco did the same with Perseus and Anais. Afterward, Draco spoke to his mother alone who did her fair share of crying in worry for her son. Anais significantly surprised her daughter by acting extremely motherly all day, such as making sure Briana had everything, fixing part of Briana's hair, and even telling her to be careful while she was away.

Giving her parents one last hug, Briana joined Draco as the two of them ran at the wall between platforms nine and ten. Once on the other side, they were greeted with a sea of people scrambling to board the Hogwarts Express. White steam emitted from the train's chimney as a conductor yelled for everyone to get on board. There were two minutes left before eleven o'clock, when the train was supposed to deport from King's Cross.

Draco lead Briana onto the Hogwarts Express and down several corridors. Tons of students were running to join their friends in their own compartments, while Draco was searching for an empty one. The two of them walked far back onto the train before they were successful in finding a compartment of their own. Draco hoisted his briefcase onto the rack above the seats as Briana sat down watching him.

Since the night he became a Death Eater (a thought both of them still shuddered about) Draco had matured even more. Briana hadn't seen all that much of him, and when she did, it was difficult for her to bring the old Draco out to laugh and have fun. For instance, today the teenager was clad in an all black suit and tie, lugging that briefcase of his. She was worried that she was losing her best friend again, but in a different and much scarier fashion.

Briana herself was wearing a rather simple outfit; a black skirt, beige sweater and ballet flats with her hair in a french braid up-do.

[ cgi/set?id=70336810 ]

Draco and Briana both stared out the train window as it began to start chugging out of Kings Cross, gaining speed every second. Briana suddenly turned to him and asked, "Have you been alright lately?"

He glanced at her before looking out the window again, simply nodding. She sighed in concern as she made herself more comfortable by putting her bare legs onto the soft cushion beside her and leaning her head against the cold window. Briana watched Draco as he continued to look sadly out at the London country side. Suddenly, a rather old and plump witch threw back the compartment door, pushing a trolley full of various sweets and baked goods.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?", she asked them kindly.

Briana stole a quick glance at Draco, who was ignoring the Trolley witch. Briana answered her though, "I'd like two of everything, please."

The witch looked surprised, then smiled widely as she used her wand to send two of everything floating onto the seat beside Briana. Draco looked at his friend, flabbergasted, watching her take out 13 sickles and handing them all to the smiling witch who left. They could hear her yelling "anything from the trolley" until she got so far down the train, the words were inaudible. Briana laid out the various sweets next to her on the seat, admiring the chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes, licorice wands, Drooble's best blowing gum, Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, pumpkin pasties and more.

"Why did you buy all this?", Draco asked her curiously.

"Remember on Easter Sundays when we would lay out all the candy we got and eat it together?"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to relive the glory days," she told him, half-joking.

"'The glory days'?", he chuckled as he joined her on her side of the compartment. "You consider those the glory days?"

"Yes! Back when we were sweet and innocent children who only cared about candies."

"Alright, so what are we stuffing our faces with first?"

Briana smiled; she had a feeling this would get Draco to loosen up. "Licorice wands are my favorite, so here you go." She handed him one before removing her own from its packaging.

They continued to devour every one of the candies, until all the colorful boxes were empty and on the floor except for their pumpkin pasties. Briana thought she would explode if she ate anymore, but her best friend persuaded her into eating the pastie anyway. When the pastry was completely demolished, Briana threw her head back from stomach pains.

"Why did you force me to eat that? You're so evil," she groaned.

"No, this is evil," he leaned toward her slowly, reaching his arms out. He suddenly began to tickle her mercilessly as she began to scream and laugh at the same time.

"Stop! Stop or I'll throw up on you!", Briana warned him between laughs, which he considered before ceasing the tickles.

Without a warning, three light knocks came from the glass compartment door. The two of them turned their heads to see Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, of all people, looking curiously at Briana and Draco sitting on the floor. It was an odd sight for the Gryffindor's to see Malfoy laughing with a girl, candy wrappers littering the compartment seats.

"Erm, Malfoy, we've been sent to retrieve you for the Prefect's meeting," Hermione told them softly.

"You'd have to talk to Mr. Solomon about that actually, he's taken my spot. So you can run along now," he explained to them.

They left without needing any further explanation, after getting a smile from Briana, who then turned to Draco, "Why'd you give up your prefect duties?"

"Figured I'd be too busy with... other things. And I'd have to either give up being a Prefect or being Quidditch Captain, which wasn't about to happen."

"Ah, I see. So Chuck's taking your place? Speaking of Chuck, why aren't we sitting with the others?"

He shrugged, "Well I have you now."

Briana smiled, then the pair of them disposed of all the trash.

It began to grow a bit less sunny outside as the Hogwarts Express continued chugging along towards Hogwarts. Briana had convinced Draco to aid her with the Magical Symbols Game in the Daily Prophet, but he proved to be of little help. Just when she gave up on trying any longer, the compartment door was slid violently open by their other friends. The pair looked up to see Blaise, Alex, Letha, and Kaylee standing in the doorway.

"Hi guys!", Briana said excitedly.

"No! So you just decided to go off on your own, and NOT try to find us at all?", Kaylee asked them with her arms crossed.

"His idea," Briana was quick to throw Draco under the bus.

"I'm not even really mad, just a bit confused," Kaylee smiled as she took a seat next to her, then whispered, "But seeing you two alone in here together, it all makes sense."

"Oh shut it!", Briana's cheeks turned light pink for a second as the others joined them in the compartment.

The six of them engaged in each of their own conversations, sometimes piping up a topic interesting enough for all them to talk about. Alex kept looking at Draco, then Briana, then sending Draco a suggestive look, which intrigued Draco but he knew not to ask about it while Briana was still 2 feet away from the two of them. After a little while, Chuck came into the compartment as well, making quite a grand entrance.

"No need to worry any longer, chumps! The party has arrived!", he hollered at them.

"The party needs to pipe down a bit before I treat it like a garden gnome!", Kaylee warned him.

He smiled cheekily at her, then squished himself onto the seat between Kaylee and Briana. Chuck was already in his school robes, with a green and silver Prefect badge gleaming on the front of them. Briana made a comment about how he looked in the uniform before she pulled the two books she bought for the two of them out of her bag.

"Here are the books I got us to read!", she gave one of each to him. She had bought a novel titled The Commitments by Roddy Doyle, and One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.

"Brilliant! Why these two?", he asked her, inspecting the books with great interest.

"Well, The Commitments is supposed to be a funny read, and if we like it, there's two more novels in the series. As for the other one, well it's obviously all about magical herbs and whatnot, which will help you in both Potions and Herbology; your two worst subjects. I've read most of this book myself, but it's a good review. I was thinking we could read it at the same pace and whenever you come across something you don't fully understand, you could ask me for clarification, given Herbology and Potions are my best subjects."

"Bloody hell, Briana. You sounded like Granger," Blaise suddenly noted.

"Who is she? If I sound like her, we'd probably hit it off rather well."

"No, she's the mudblood who's always with Potter and Weasley," he told her.

"Granger's the one who came to fetch me for the Prefect meeting," Draco clarified.

"Oh," was all Briana said before returning to her conversation with Chuck.

"Sounds fantastic, thank you," he told her. He put the two books into his own bag as he pulled out another and extended it to Briana. It was a copy of A History of Magic; a notably large book that was used as the textbook for History of Magic classes at Hogwarts, all seven years of education.

"I already have this book, Chuck," she told him.

"Ah, but get this: I have two copies of this baby. I've read the entire thing twice. The one I'm giving you has all my notes, tips and even a couple of corrections. You mentioned History of Magic was your worst class, so I figured it would come in handy to you," he explained with a smile prominent on his face.

"Really?! You truly are brilliant you know, it's amazing," Briana looked impressed as she leafed through the pages with Chuck's neat hand-writing all over them.

"Oh stop," he playfully hit her.

All at once, the compartment door was thrown open for the third time that train ride to reveal a third-year girl who seemed to be out of breath. She looked scared out of her mind, which she was, staring at the sixth year Slytherin's in front of her. (Plus Letha, the only Ravenclaw in the group.)

"I-I'm supposed to d-deliver these to some of y-you," the girl stumbled. She read the names on the rolled up pieces of parchment in her hands. "B-Blaise Zabini, Letha T-Taylor, Briana... Brightsman, and Alex Whittaker."

Confused and intrigued, the four of them each took their scrolls. The girl ran away quickly as Chuck called after her, "What about meeeee?!"

"What is it?", Draco demanded, trying to get a look over Blaise's shoulder as he unrolled his parchment.

"An invitation," Alex said as he read his quickly.

"It says, 'Miss Taylor, I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C. Sincerely, Professor H. E. F. Slughorn'," Letha read hers out loud.

"Well what's he want you lot for?", Kaylee asked, a tiny bit offended that she didn't receive an invitation.

"No idea," Blaise answered. "Let's go so we can find out."

The others nodded, then the four of them were all on their way to compartment C. The corridors of the train were packed with students for whatever reason, but they parted like the Red Sea when they saw a group of older Slytherin's making their way through. When they finally reached the compartment, the group could see that they were certainly not the only one's invited by the new Professor for lunch.

"Ah! Miss Taylor, Miss Brightsman! So lovely to have you two ladies! And you two must be Mister Zabini and Mister Whittaker, yes? Please, have a seat," he gestured for them to all sit down next to each other in the only four remaining seats.

"Now, since we're all here, I believe some introductions are in order! I'll just give you all some friendly introductions so we're all well acquainted, starting with myself of course. I'm Professor Slughorn, your new Potions teacher! Assuming all of you received an OWL in Potions, that is," he laughed at his own, dry joke before saying his piece on everyone else he had invited.

"This is Harry Potter of course, the boy-who-lived, no doubt you all know him well enough to write an essay! Neville Longbottom just across from him, son of Frank and Alice Longbottom; two of the greatest Aurors I've had the privilege of making the acquaintance of. Here's Ginny Weasley, an very talented witch she is, being able to conjure some of the most difficult charms and I hear she's a very talented Quidditch player. This young chap here is Cormac McLaggen, who's exceedingly charming and well-rounded. That's Marcus Belby, nephew of Damocles Belby who is no doubt the ingenious creator of the Wolfsbane Potion! This fine young lady is Hermione Granger, no doubt the brightest witch of her year, and probably even years beyond. She's that brilliant, she is!

"Here's Letha Taylor, exceptionally bright witch, receiving OWL's on every subject this past year; not to mention her mother is one of the most celebrated fashion designers in our country. Just to her left is Blaise Zabini, who I've heard nothing but greatness about. His mother is also well-known in our world. This lovely young lady is Briana Brightsman, a most remarkable girl. She's never failed a single Potions assignment, which only makes sense, seeing that her father Perseus Brightsman is the author of one of the most celebrated Potion textbooks of our century. Miss Brightsman is also a most talented dancer. I hear she's only ever gotten first and second place in every competition she enters, and she is a 9-time national title-holder! And last but definitely not least is Alex Whittaker. Not only is he one the most talked-about students in Hogwarts, but the boy's quite a traveler! He's been to every continent in the world except for Antarctica! His great-grandmother also happens to be the inventor of those delicious Fizzy Wizzy candies."

Horace Slughorn finished with a smile as the students all realized why they were there; each of them possessed either great talent, great connections, or in some cases both. The old man gave a wave of his wand, making food appear on the table in front of them. He began to pass around a plate full of roasted pheasants, each student taking one in turn before he then began to pass down a basket of buttered rolls. When the pies began to be passed out, Briana almost gagged. She was still rather full from the pile of candy she had eaten earlier, but she didn't want to be rude and took small portions of food, placing them on her plate.

As everyone began to eat their lunch, Slughorn began to hold brief interviews with each of the students. Briana kept getting stares from Cormac throughout the meal, and she noticed him giving the same looks to Hermione Granger. The afternoon wore on with Horace telling stories about the famous and illustrious witches and wizards he had taught, all of whom had been delighted to join what he referred to as the "Slug Club" at Hogwarts. Finally, the train emerged from a long misty stretch into a beautiful red, purple and blue sunset, as Slughorn looked around.

"Good gracious, it's beginning to grow dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps already! You'd all best go change into your school robes now!", he shooed them away, sending a few of them particularly wide and genuine smiles.

All of the students seemed to be glad that they were dismissed, leaving the compartment rather quickly. Alex, Blaise, Briana and Letha joined their friends in the compartment once more. Chuck, Draco and Kaylee were all curious to hear what they had to say.

"Well? What was that about?", Chuck asked expectantly.

"Slughorn has some sort of club at Hogwarts that we've all been considered to be a part of. My mother was in it back in the day, and she says that if you've been accepted, you receive another invitation to his first dinner party at the school, and continue to attend his meetings from then on," Letha explained.

"Just trying to kiss up to well-connected and talented people," Blaise added. "Not that he managed to find very many. I mean, he invited Belby from Raveclaw, and that Weasley girl. And of course Potter was there."

"Why wasn't I invited?", Draco queried.

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation," Blaise told him. "I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eater families."

"What about Briana?", Kaylee asked. "And don't try to tell me your parents aren't Death Eaters; Letha and I have been able to figure out as much."

"Well her parents are secretive about it of course, nobody knows, other than the other Death Eaters, so naturally Slughorn doesn't know," Draco explained.

"I hear his parties are ones to marvel at, so while his taste in club members may not be exactly up to par, I'm excited to attend the meetings anyway," Letha stated.

"Yes, well we should go change into our uniforms now. I believe we'll be arriving to school soon," Briana grabbed her bag as Kaylee and Letha did the same, then the three girls left the compartment.

Not long after the girls had left, Chuck turned around in his seat to confront Draco about something he deemed very important. "I KNOW!", Chuck shouted, pointing at his friend incriminatory.

"Know what?!", Draco asked in a confused manner.

"I know! Blaise told Alex, and Alex told me! I KNOW, MALFOY!"

Draco glanced at Blaise dangerously, thinking he had told them about him being made into a Death Eater, "What is it that you know?!"

"We all know about Briana," Chuck said her name as if he was using You-Know-Who's real name.

Hearing this, Draco relaxed for a minute, but then freaked out a little bit again when he realized what this was about, "What about Briana?!"

"That you fancy her," Blaise smirked at him. "I told them everything you told me, mate."

"See, this is why I have trust issues," Draco sent Blaise a look.

"Oh, like we couldn't tell anyways! You stare at the poor girl as if she's a cake you'd like sink your teeth into!", Chuck exclaimed.

"I do not... And why is she a 'poor girl' exactly?!"

"Let's face it Draco," Chuck began. "You've only had two legitimate relationships, yeah? And both of those went down in shambles. That's why you've basically been a man whore like Blaise and I for the past two years."

"Yeah, I mean, do you just want to get it in or do you genuinely fancy her, like you want to take her on dates and all that?", Blaise asked her.

"I want to get it in with her," Chuck mumbled, though it didn't go unnoticed as both Alex and Draco hit him at the same time.

But then Chuck clarified himself, "Okay, well I DID want to get it in with her, I think we all did. But now that you fancy her like THAT, we've all had a change of heart, you could say."

"It's true," Blaise nodded.

Draco sighed, "You guys are making this a bigger deal than it actually is-"

"Um, no, it's a huge deal! Draco Malfoy actually has feelings for someone other than himself, and you're trying to say it's no big deal," Chuck exclaimed.

"It isn't a big deal because nothing's going to happen from it. So I fancy her, that doesn't mean she fancies me. Even if she did, there's no guarantee that we'd be more than friends, because if something bad happens, maybe we won't even be friends anymore."

"Oh come off it, this is Briana we're talking about here! I personally think she's waiting for you to take her on a date," Blaise stated firmly.

"And since when are you afraid of taking a risk, anyway?", Alex asked him.

Draco contemplated what his friends were telling him. If he told Briana he had feelings for her, three things could happen: one, she could have feelings for him too and they'd go from there; two, she could be confused and they'd stay as friends for at least a while; or three, she could be disgusted and want nothing to do with him anymore. But Draco wasn't even sure how strong his feelings for Briana were at this point. He knew the feelings were there, but were they just a phase? He didn't have the answer, and only time could give it to him.

"Well, I'm not going to do anything about it. It's too confusing right now," he told them truthfully.

"Ugh! I have to wait? Can I tell Briana? Maybe she'd make a move," Chuck said.

"No! Don't tell her anything!"

"Can I play match-maker? I'll be ninja-like and subtly drop hints on her. Maybe I can get her to tell me that she fancies you too," Chuck's mind was spinning with numerous possibilities.

"You won't do a thing about it, Solomon. Draco has to do it all by himself and I, for one, am very curious to see how this will all play out," Blaise stated, sending Draco a look of interest.

"Fine, fine, whatever you say. Either way, I can see it now; Draco and Briana: from best friends to soul mates. You know, in my mind you guys make a good couple," Chuck put a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Can we not talk about this anymore?", Draco asked, scratching the back of his head. "It's a bit odd to hear you say that sort of thing."

"Why?"

"Because it's so much different than the current way I live."

"So are you afraid of change? Things change, Draco," Blaise said seriously.

"Of course I'm afraid of change, it's a completely new idea in my mind, and that's not something I believe I'm ready for."

Alex looked at Draco, "You can judge your love for someone by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea."

Blaise, Chuck and Draco all turned to stare at Alex, rather surprised to hear such blunt and wise words escape from his mouth. After they thought about what he said, they in turn stared at Draco who still looked rather confused. Alex's words made so much sense to him, but everything was still flying over his head. It was all too much to think about, not to mention he had bigger problems on his hands. Who had time to think about love when they were supposed to murder one of the most famous Wizards in the world? Who had time to act on feelings when they were supposed to mend a Vanishing Cabinet? Draco decided he would try his best to push the thoughts out of his mind until the world was a bit less chaotic around him. With all this set in his brain, Draco wasn't sure what to say anymore, but his friends looked especially expectant to receive some sort of speech from him. Thankfully though, Briana, Kaylee, and Letha all came back from the restroom in their school uniforms.

"...just saying it wouldn't suck to have her in Ravenclaw with me," Letha was saying as the three girls entered the compartment and took their seats.

"And I'm just saying I would love to have her in Slytherin with ME," Kaylee retaliated.

"What are you guys doing?", Blaise asked them, squinting his eyes.

"We were initially discussing whether I'm more likely to be sorted into Ravenclaw or Slytherin," Briana told him. "But then they started arguing about which of them needs me more."

"Well come on, I don't really have any female friends in Slytherin."

"I don't have that many friends, either gender, in Ravenclaw! All of YOU GUYS are in Slytherin!"

"Hey, hey, hey, for all you two know, she could be sorted into Hufflepuff," Chuck said, which caused Kaylee and Blaise to scoff at the same time. "And Briana, no offense, but if that happens, I won't be able to talk to you in public anymore."

Briana rolled her eyes, "Thanks, but the probability of me being a Hufflepuff isn't even measurable."

"We'll find out what house you're in soon enough, I can see the castle now. We're only five minutes away," Alex pointed out.

"Ravenclaaaaaaawww," Letha sang, smiling at Briana and Kaylee mischievously.

"SLYTHERIN!", Kaylee shouted, causing Briana to laugh as the two other girls joined in her laughter.

The boys stared around at each other before they started laughing lightly too, though Draco seemed to be distracted by something. The gigantic Hogwarts castle got closer and closer until the train halted to a stop at Hogsmeade Station. The group of seven all began to stand up and gather their belongings; however, as everyone else was walking out of the compartment door, Draco remained seated as if he had no intentions of leaving the busy train. Briana and Chuck both stopped in the doorway, turning around to look at him with confused and suspicious expressions on their faces.

"Go ahead. I just want to check something," he told them blankly.

Chuck and Briana glanced at each other before nodding at Draco, then joining the others on the platform. The sky was dark, but the stars scattered throughout it were bright, illuminating the dirt paths leading to the school grounds. Briana's friends led her to the Black Lake were all the first-years were climbing into boats in groups of four. Telling her they'd see her soon, the six of them left her to get on a carriage. Briana slowly and carefully stepped into one of the small boats with three small boys who stared at her as if she were a mountain troll. They said things like "Aren't you too old to be a first year?", and after she explained the ordeal to them three separate times, they understood and left her alone. The boats finally reached the other side of the dark, creepy, Black Lake and the first years gathered outside the doors of the enchanting castle.

Briana was enjoying the beautiful views and sights in front of her as they walked through Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Draco was teaching Harry Potter a lesson on eavesdropping.


	20. Chapter 19

The sorting of the first years commenced, and ended a good twenty-five minutes later. Afterward, Briana had to be sorted into her house, as a new sixth year. She felt a bit odd, being sorted as a sixteen year-old, but luckily there was another new student; a fifth year boy who shared her awkwardness. She learned his name was Avery, as he let her get sorted first.

Briana walked up to the old stool amid the stares of the entire school. She looked at the four tables, each seeming to resemble each house; one red, one blue, one yellow, and one green. Letha sent her a suggestive smile from Ravenclaw's table as Kaylee did the same from the other side of the room. Next to her, Chuck threw Briana a wink, all of which made a small smile form on her lips.

Sitting down on the short wooden stool, an old witch Briana knew to be Professor McGonagall placed a hat on her brunette head that appeared to be extremely worn out. The whole school watched as Briana closed her eyes, seemingly listening to the sorting hat's wise words. She even nodded thoughtfully a couple times as students and staff alike began to wonder how much longer the ordeal would take. A second later, the brim of the patched-up old hat opened up to reveal a mouth, yelling the conclusion of "SLYTHERIN!"

Claps all around the room took place, especially from Slytherin table. Draco attempted a sort of smile while Blaise nodded repeatedly, Chuck fist-pumping and Kaylee going to the lengths of standing up as she did some sort of dance and brought her fingers to her mouth to whistle. Briana sent Letha a deep look of sympathy, to which Letha replied by making a pouting face and wiping away a fake tear before giving Kaylee the finger, showing off her perfectly manicured bright green finger nails.

Professor McGonagall removed the hat from Briana's head as she skipped to join her friends at the long wooden table adorned in green and silver. She sat between Draco and Blaise, across from Kaylee and Chuck. Briana smiled at them from across the table, also realizing that the two of them were sitting abnormally close to one another. She called no attention to it, however, because the Avery boy was already sitting down with the hat resting on his own messy black hair. The old hat took a mere four seconds to reach its decision, sending Avery to join the Slytherin's too.

The headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, began to review the many rules that the school had set in stone years ago, then he eventually proceeded to make a few announcements. During this time, Briana took a minute to notice that Draco had changed into his school uniform which she admitted to herself looked extremely attractive on him. Yet she didn't marvel at the sight of her best friend, for he seemed incapable of producing a smile at the time. He sat with his chin propped lazily on one hand as the pale fingers of his other hand ran back and forth on the same line indented onto the wooden table. There was no apparent expression on his face; he just seemed to be far away in his thoughts, with his eyes cast down.

Briana wasn't given much time to worry about him before Kaylee tapped her hand and whispered, "Ethan Bentley keeps staring at you."

Draco's now darker blue eyes flicked up to stare at Kaylee.

"Who?", like Briana could remember who that guy was; she had always been pretty bad with names the first time around.

"That guy down there," Kaylee gestured inconspicuously in a certain direction.

Briana craned her neck to find herself staring into a pair of sparkling light green eyes. When Ethan realized she was staring back at him, he raised an eyebrow, flashed a charmingly pearly-white smile then winked. Draco sent the boy a look of deep disgust and annoyance before looking for Briana's reaction which turned out to be a slight flush of the cheeks. Briana busied herself by trying to pay attention to Dumbledore as he made sure that the students knew their curfew was irrefrangible. Malfoy sent Bentley a death glare, which was eagerly returned before Draco concocted a most clever idea to pull Briana closer to him and rest his head on her shoulder.

Briana was a little startled by the sudden action, but simply smiled at her friend and asked if he was feeling alright. He nodded at her, then sent a victorious smirk at Ethan who looked the other way with a frown playing on his face. Albus had finished talking, and waved his arms over the Great Hall making various colorful and delicious-looking food appear on all the tables. The first years all gasped with delight and everyone immediately began to pile their plates high with all the nourishment they cared for.

The dark and odd feeling of the castle got to everyone, nobody really speaking much as everyone ate their fill. No matter where you looked, not one person, not even the teachers, appeared to be in very chipper moods. Staff and students alike finished their meals in near silence as the food vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Then, Dumbledore stood abruptly, walked back to his candle-lit podium and began to speak quite somberly about a topic that easily caught everyone's attention.

"Now, as you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival tonight. You have a right to know why," he began. The students stared at him, eager and ready for the explanation. "Once there was a young man who, like you, sat in this very Hall. Walked this castle's corridors. Slept beneath its roof. He seemed, to all the world, a student like any other. His name? Tom Riddle."

Many of the students began to murmur and whisper frantically while others sat stunned by the words, while still others seemed completely unaffected. The headmaster allowed them to converse a minute before he held up a grey hand to issue a silent room.

He continued, "Today, of course, the world knows him by another name. Which is why, as I stand looking out upon you all tonight, I am reminded of a sobering fact. Each day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle. But in the end, their greatest weapon remains... you."

Briana stole a glance at Draco, who noticed and hid his face in her shoulder. Briana also noticed Harry Potter staring at her best friend intently, and she began to wonder if he had suspicions about Draco.

"Just something to keep in mind," Albus finalized. "Now everybody off to bed! Pip-pip!"

The old man's words were pellucid and concise, sinking into every single person's minds as they thought about what their headmaster had told them. People murmured and began to talk among themselves, standing to head to their common rooms or wherever else they may have to go. Pansy walked over to where Draco and the others sat, tapping Chuck on the shoulder.

"Prefect duties, Solomon!", she reminded him.

"Right, right, I'm coming," he waved to his friends and followed Pansy to a door that led out of the hall, as they tried to round-up the new first years.

Blaise, Alex, Kaylee and Draco escorted Briana out of the Great Hall and to the Slytherin Common Room. Briana had read "Hogwarts: A History" before coming to the school, but she was still very curious about the old school. She constantly asked her friends questions to gain all the information she desired, such as when the hours of classes were, where all the restrooms were located, and how she ought to go about sending owls.

"Wait, so we DO eat all our meals in there, yes?", she asked them.

"Yes, Briana," Kaylee slightly rolled her eyes. "But you don't HAVE to eat every meal, your presence isn't mandatory. You can do whatever you want during meal times, even enter and leave the Great Hall whenever you desire! But I can't imagine why you'd ever want to skip a meal."

"Right," she nodded. "So what if I get lost when I'm trying to get to classes?"

"Well we get our schedules tomorrow," Alex told her.

"And you always have classes with other housemates, so I'm sure you'll have at least one of us in every subject. So we can just walk there with you," Blaise explained.

"Ah, okay. Thanks!"

They entered the silver, black an green adorned common room to find it nearly empty. The tables with the benches and chairs around them in all the corners were unoccupied, as were most of the cushioned armchairs and sofas that were placed neatly all around the room. Only a few third years sat on the black leather love seats by the entrance, playing a game of Poker. The Slytherin common room was dimly lit by various candles, leaving the room rather dark and quite cold. It sent a shiver up Briana's spine, and she shuddered a bit.

Blaise noticed and laughed, "You get used to the temperature in here."

"But I don't wanna get used to the cold," she mumbled, rubbing her arms to keep them warm.

"I suppose you won't have to quite yet," Draco told the stubborn girl and took her hand, leading her to the couch in front of the fireplace.

The rest followed and each took a seat, Alex and Blaise both choosing to sit on the floor. Draco took his cloak off and draped it over Briana in the hopes that it would provide her extra warmth. She smiled at him gratefully as Alex and Blaise exchanged knowing looks, though Kaylee remained oblivious, too distracted by trying feverishly to get a stain off her pink ballet flats. The five friends talked about the classes they hoped and knew they were going to take this term; however, neither Draco nor Alex contributed to he conversation much at all. That was normal for Alex, because he's just the shy, quiet and innocent one of the group, but Draco was just out of sorts and acting quite dark and mysterious lately. Only Briana and Blaise knew why that was, and the others were either too afraid to ask, didn't take notice, or simply didn't care.

After a short while, Chuck came bounding tiredly down stairs that lead to the boys' dormitory. He plopped heavily onto the couch between Draco and Kaylee and sighed.

"First year's are a lot of work! I can see why you gave up the job, Malfoy," Chuck said.

Draco nodded in his general direction, but said nothing, which caused a sort of frown to form on Chuck's face.

"Don't take it personally," Kaylee explained. "He's hardly spoken all night."

"I see... Speak to me later, boy," Chuck pointed at him then turned to Kaylee. "You won't ignore me, will you?"

"Of course not!", Kaylee batted her eyes at him, half-mockingly and half-serious. "How could I ignore someone as charming as you?"

"My thoughts exactly. Why haven't we talked as much before, anyway? I mean the only reason we're talking now is because of Briana."

"I dunno, you were always just the typical perverted guy I always heard about but never talked to. Why?"

"Because I'm just glad we're friends now," he smiled cheekily at her, as she smiled flirtatiously at him.

The ordeal caused the other four in the room to all exchange knowing and suspicious looks, as they all felt something between Kaylee and Chuck was on the rise. It didn't exactly come as a surprise to them, however, because both Chuck and Kaylee were quite promiscuous and certainly got around. They had the same sort of aura about them that sort of made you want to be attracted to them, which is exactly what they both would want to happen. Since they were so similar, one would think it quite inevitable that they would eventually find each other interesting and something may spark.

So it's safe to say that things are changing around here. Draco was acting odd because he had been made a teenage Death Eater, not to mention the fact that he had feelings for Briana (whether they were permanent or not was still to be determined but they were still there), Briana was responding to her best friend's unordinary actions by searching her own heart for feelings towards him, Kaylee and Chuck seemed to be flirting with each other which would surely turn into something, but would that something be just sleeping with each other or would an actual relationship come of it? Nobody could be sure, but it's safe to say that each individual was curious to find out.

The friends were all silent then, some of their eyes beginning to droop. Briana was half-asleep on the sofa when Kaylee noticed and immediately reached over Draco to wake her up.

"Don't fall asleep down here! Come on, I'll show you upstairs now," Kaylee offered as she stood up.

Briana groaned as she groggily stood as well, handing Draco his cloak back. She gave him a tired smile and said goodbye to all the boys. Kaylee exclaimed she would see them all tomorrow, to which Chuck replied by saying, "You most certainly will." The girls ascended the stairs to the girls' dormitories, leaving their friends in the common room in front of the fire. Kaylee lead her friend down a long corridor lined with several identical doors. The only thing that set them apart were the names that appeared on each door, listing who was in which dormitory.

The girls nearly reached the end of the dark hall before Kaylee stopped abruptly in front of a door, exclaiming happily, "I found your name! And mine! We're in the same room! Thank Merlin... Oh, but bloody Parkinson..."

She twisted the doorknob and opened the door as Briana read the names that were there: Briana Brightsman, Daphne Greengrass, Kaylee Nelson, Pansy Parkinson and Nigella Starr. Briana had made the acquaintance of Daphne and Pansy at the Malfoy's party, so she was glad she at least somewhat knew them. She and Daphne got along pretty well, but Pansy despised her for being such good friends with Draco. Nigella Starr, however, was a name that neither Briana nor Kaylee had ever heard before.

Kaylee and Briana entered the room to find all of their belongings in the room, each person seeming to have a designated bed already. Briana noticed her things placed neatly around and on a bed between Daphne's and Kaylee's, an arrangement she was pleased about. The three other girls were already in the room; Pansy was reading some sort of teenage witch magazine on her bed, while Daphne and Nigella were straightening their hair in the middle of the room.

Kaylee waved to them simply, then plopped onto her bed, yawning quietly. Briana sent the two girls on the floor a smile as they stood up to greet her.

"Good to see you again, Briana!", Daphne said eagerly.

"You too! I'm glad we get to share a room," she said honestly.

"Me too," Daphne smiled. "Oh, this is Nigella, by the way. I don't think you two have met."

"It's nice to meet you," Briana smiled at Nigella, who was short with bright purple hair and large brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you too," the small girl replied happily; she seemed as if she was going to explode from joy, which made Briana laugh.

"Sorry about her being a weirdo. She's kind of a big fan of yours," Daphne explained.

"Fan? Of mine? How's that?"

"I've watched all the videos of you dancing, you're so fantastic! AND I saw the commercial you did for the new dance game in America," Nigella explained. "I also watch Justin Emmerson's videos, and I saw you in two of them."

"WAIT, so are you saying you're a Justin Emmerson fan?!", Kaylee asked the girl eagerly. She nodded vigorously and Kaylee ran over to give her a big hug, stating that they're the best of friends now.

"What year are you, anyway?", Briana asked the two girls.

"Fourth years!", the exclaimed, seeming even happier than they were before.

"Brilliant! Well I'm glad we all got to meet quickly, and we get to share a dormitory," Briana sang.

Daphne squealed, "This is, like, the best dorm ever!"

"Fo sho," Kaylee agreed, as Nigella clapped her hands in content.

Pansy sat on the bed, continuing to read her magazine in silence, not saying a word to any of the other girls; just watching them and sending them glares whenever any of them made eye contact with her. They all climbed into bed, and most of the lights were out, but Briana soon thought of another question to pester her friends with.

"Psst! Kaylee!", she whisper-yelled.

Kaylee sat up abruptly, "What?!"

"What time do I have to wake up tomorrow?!"

"Here," Kaylee handed her a slightly worn-out and tattered piece of parchment. "It's a paper they give everyone in first year that you can use. It has our daily schedule on it, so it tells you how long when each class and meal starts and ends. It comes in handy the first few weeks."

"So Breakfast is from 6:30-8... Brilliant, thank you!"

"Yeah, sure, now go to sleep!", Kaylee threw a pillow at her and soon was fast asleep herself.

It took no more than ten minutes for all five of the girls to fall asleep peacefully, comforted by the warm, green silver and black beds they laid in. Briana had completely forgotten that she was even cold before. In truth, the dormitories were just as cold as the main common room, but perhaps she just felt warmer in her bedroom because she was happy and laughing.


	21. Chapter 20

Briana awoke the next morning with the sun shining down on her face. The light from the sun illuminated the dormitory as the rest of the girls continued to sleep peacefully. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Briana stalked over to the window adjacent to her bed and looked out at the few clouds surrounding the ball of light in the light blue and purple sky. She stared at the clock on the wall to discover it was merely six o'clock in the morning. Briana had always been an early riser, which she had never considered to be a bad thing. Remembering that breakfast began in thirty minutes, the girl decided she might as well get ready for her first day of classes.

Briana walked to her bureau and took out her school uniform and a towel. She took her makeup bag from another drawer and quietly crept out of the room to the bathrooms. One of the questions Briana had asked her friends yesterday was where she ought to go about taking showers and such, and Chuck explained to her that the girls and boys in each house all shared the bathrooms in their common rooms, something he found phenomenal. She thought it was rather odd and quite surprising, but went along with it anyway. Briana peered carefully around the part of the bathrooms where all the showers were. The green and black tiles of the floor were all completely dry as she noted that there were two rows of shower stalls on each side of the room, holding twelve on each side.

There didn't appear to be any other person in the shower room as she slowly walked to one of the stalls in the middle of the right side. Closing the stall door behind her, Briana turned around to find that the shower stall was actually much larger than it looked from the outside. Ah, magic. A tower of shelves even stood in one corner of the stall for Briana to set her things on so they could remain dry as she cleansed herself. She stripped down and turned one of the knobs of the shower as warm water immediately began to fall from the shower head. Briana happily stepped into the water and closed her eyes as she let the refreshing water land on her face, completely waking her up. She washed her tangle-free hair with pomegranate scented shampoo as she merrily sang a song.

"I'm gonna pick up the pieces, and build a Lego House. If things go wrong, we can knock it down. My three words have two meanings, but there's one thing on my mind; it's all for you. And it's dark in a cold December, but I've got you to keep me warm. If you're broken I will mend you, and I'll keep you sheltered from the storm that's raging on. Now I'm out of touch, I'm out of love. I'll pick you up when you're getting down, and out of all these things I've done, I think I'll love you better now."

Briana stopped singing abruptly when she heard the squeak of someone else turning on a shower. She hastily turned the water off and dried herself before she put on her Slytherin uniform. Briana then left the showers to the part of the bathrooms that was practically a powder room, housing nothing but vanities, stools and power outlets. She let her dark brown hair stay naturally straight, applying her light make up then heading back to her dormitory. The teenager grabbed her schoolbag that held all her school books and supplies, and quietly crept out of the room again as the clock struck six thirty-four.

In the Great Hall, there weren't very many people; three Gryffindor's, a handful of Hufflepuff's all reading the Daily Prophet, a dozen Ravenclaw's who were all reading books, and absolutely no Slytherin's. Briana was the first of her house to make it to Breakfast that day. She sat alone, admiring the Great Hall as she chewed on scrambled eggs and chewy bacon. Not ten minutes later, Chuck was sauntering towards Briana with a smirk on his clear face. She cocked an eyebrow curiously at him as he took a seat next to her.

"You're a really good singer," he told her, still smirking as he put some hash browns on his plate.

"So that was you in there?", she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Indeed," he nodded and began eating his breakfast. "You sing Ed Sheeran pretty well."

"Thanks I guess," Briana poured herself some cold orange juice as Alex joined them across the table.

"Good morning, Booboo!", Briana smiled at him.

He nodded at her, with amusement and annoyance on his face at the same time, "Morning."

"You smell like the Owlery. Were you sending someone an owl?", Chuck eyed him wondrously.

"Um, yeah... I was just, um... sending my mum an owl."

Briana stared at him, "I thought your mum was in Azkaban..."

"Oh yeah, I meant my.. Grandmother. Yeah. She's just been checking on me," he nodded to himself and hastily began to devour some toast.

His friends nodded at him, but neither of them truly bought the story. More people began to file into the Hall as it became seven in the morning. The room began to grow loud as the buzz of people's conversations steadily grew louder and louder. Kaylee, Blaise and Draco all entered the hall at half past seven, seating themselves around their other friends. The three of them began to eat their breakfasts and making light conversation when Severus Snape made his way to their group. He had been passing out schedules to the members of Slytherin house and was now there to give them theirs. The tall, dark professor handed Chuck a stack of papers before he left quietly. Chuck distributed the schedules throughout the group as they all read them and eagerly compared their classes. Letha even came running over to compare schedules with her friends as well.

Briana made notes to herself on her parchment to remind herself who she had each class with. In the end, her paper looked like this:

[Enter Le Schedule aqui]

It quickly became time for their first classes, and luckily for Briana, she had History of Magic with more than half of her friends: Letha, Blaise, Chuck and Alex. They said goodbye to Draco and Kaylee who were both heading to Astronomy. When they got to Professor Binns's classroom, they found that everyone was given assigned seats, all at tables of three. Miraculously, Blaise, Letha and Alex had all been seated at a table together while Chuck and Briana were assigned at a table towards the back of the room with a Ravenclaw boy who appeared to be sleeping. The room filled with sixth year Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's before the Professor entered the room. Briana gently elbowed the Ravenclaw boy as he sat up, seemingly wide awake. The boy's stark green eyes met Briana's as she informed him.

"I think class is starting now," she told him kindly.

"Good, I've been needing a nap," he joked, smirking lazily at Briana.

She laughed for a few seconds as Chuck rolled his eyes at the boy. Class surely started as Professor Binns lectured the students about Giant Wars, apparently feeling it was a worthy subject to review. Half the class was passing notes rather than taking them, quite a few seemed to be sleeping while a handful of students actually paid attention; all of them Ravenclaw's except for Chuck. Briana herself tried her best to pay attention but soon grew terribly bored and began to doodle on her parchment, remembering that History of Magic was Chuck's best and favorite subject and knew that she could just ask him for any assistance she needed.

The Ravenclaw boy the two of them were seated with began to draw with Briana on her parchment. She was drawing a cupcake when he began to doodle a pudgy looking boy chasing after it. The cartoon caused her to laugh quietly as the boy withdrew his wand from his robes and pointed it at the parchment. He muttered a spell and the drawings came to life, the cupcake seeming to hover as the boy ran in place seeming to chase after the pastry. She clapped her hands delightedly as Chuck peered over her shoulder to see what all the excitement was about.

History of Magic ended soon after and Briana learned that the boy's name was Roger Davies, captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, Briana thought he would be pleasant enough to work with, but Chuck on the other hand seemed to be thoroughly annoyed by Roger. Maybe there was more to the Ravenclaw that Briana didn't know, but after learning about Chuck, Briana knew not to judge people too quickly.

Up in the Astronomy tower, Draco and Kaylee found themselves sitting in the back of the class, terribly bored and unproductive. About halfway through Professor Sinistra's spiel of how the class would work and how they would take occasional night trips, Kaylee turned to Draco with a dull look upon her tanned face.

"So what's with you and Briana?", she asked him, clearly desperate for something entertaining to consume her attention.

"What's that supposed to mean?", Draco eyed the girl cautiously.

"You've known each other for a number of years; there's got to be something there, I can feel it."

"Well I don't feel anything," he lied.

"Really?", Kaylee looked somewhat disappointed. "That's sort of a shame, maybe you will over time."

"Why is this such a shame again?"

"I personally think Briana fancies you a bit, but I wouldn't know for certain unless I asked her."

Draco tried to sound less interested than he actually was, "Why do you think that?"

"A woman's intuition," she pointed at him informatively. "I see the way she eyes you, from time to time. But like I said, I don't know for certain."

Draco nodded his blonde head thoughtfully before steering the conversation in a different direction, "How about you and Solomon?"

"Chuck and I? What is there to tell?"

"Are the two of you just about to shag each other, or is there more depth to this... thing?"

Kaylee stared at him for a minute, "I'm honestly not sure, I haven't known him very long, so..."

"I suppose only time can answer our questions, yeah?"

"Not necessarily, Malfoy."

He cocked an eyebrow, curious about her words, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We can sort of make answers come about prematurely, can't we?"

"...what?"

"Ugh, you're so thick sometimes!", she brought her hand to her face dramatically before explaining more slowly. "I was thinking of something called private investigating."

"If you're talking about playing match-maker, then you and Chuck would be perfect for one another," Draco rolled his eyes at the girl.

"Oh, why can't we do it! I can find out if Briana likes you, and in return you can follow up on Chuck's feelings about me!"

"I don't know... Seems a bit childish, to me..."

"Draco! Please! It's gonna be fun on top of it all!", she begged him, clasping her hands together in front of her desperately.

He stared at her a bit apprehensively for a minute before he gave in with a sigh, "Alright then."

Kaylee squealed happily and clapped her hands once then went in to give Draco a hug, but he gave her a warning glance which caused her to back off immediately and sit back down a bit awkwardly, busying herself with fixing her hair.

Briana found Kaylee and Draco waiting for her in a corridor nearby, because the three of them had Defence Against the Dark Arts together next. Apparently Snape was teaching the class this year for the first time, which seemed to make the Slytherin's quite happy. The three friends sat together in the back of the dark room as their fellow Slytherin's entered the room happily, and the Hufflepuff's arrived, looking quite petrified. There was soft chatter before Snape entered the classroom which caused the discussions to stop quickly and entirely. The Professor's slow, drawling voice echoed throughout the room as he explained that they would be put through a series of tests as a review of everything that they learned the previous years because he didn't "want to waste time teaching students who didn't possess the necessary skills to continue the class".

Upon leaving the lesson, Kaylee continuously questioned Briana about something that happened during one of the tests. In the challenges they faced, several Dark Magic obstacles and creatures waited for them, one of them being a Boggart. It had chosen to scare Briana of all people, and sought out her deepest fears. It soon took the form of a creepy faced clown with spiders crawling all over its body as the clown stood beside a dead body on the floor. The whole thing was extremely disturbing to anyone who saw it, but it made Briana's face pale and she screamed her heart out before she composed herself and shakily used the Riddikulus spell.

"So, you're afraid of clowns who own spiders and murder people?", Kaylee asked.

"Sort of," Briana mumbled, not wanting to discuss the topic.

"Was the dead body a specific person?"

"I don't know! I was honestly too busy pissing myself to take a look, in case you didn't notice!"

"Alright, alright! I was just curious!", Kaylee finally dropped the matter. "So where are you guys going now?"

"We both have a free period now," Draco informed her.

"No fair! I have bloody Herbology. But luckily I have it with Chuck," Kaylee smiled as Briana and Draco both sent her a knowing look.

"No, no," she quickly defended herself. "It's a good thing because he's brilliant at Herbology, you know?"

"Sure," Draco muttered, causing Briana to giggle as Kaylee sent them a glare then walked off to the greenhouse.

Briana followed Draco back to their common room. The two of them were lucky to have no class as their third period, because lunch came right after which gave them quite a large amount of time free of classes. Draco took Briana upstairs to the dormitory he shared with Blaise, Chuck, Alex and Flint. When he opened the door for her, Briana was quite shocked to see how untidy the room already was. She wondered how on Earth they managed to dirty up the room this much in a matter of two days.

Draco sat on his bed and began to remove his shoes and school robes, watching Briana as she wandered about the dark dormitory. Gazing around the place, she noted that the only thing the boys had seemingly managed to keep in tact were their bed side tables, all of which seemed to hold artifacts of importance to each of them. Flint's table seemed to hold a fair amount of owls from his parents, Quidditch-related souvenirs and various candy packages. Blaise's table held a family portrait in which Blaise stood next to his older sister and parents in front of the Eiffel Tower. There were also several Quidditch posters and books, plus a list of all of his friend's birthdays; even Briana's seemed to be newly etched on the list.

Alex's bedside table was the neatest and also held the least. It was solely comprised of a large stack of stationery, three quills, a black and yellow scarf for the Wimbourne Wasps Quidditch team, and the knick-knacks he had acquired from the Weasley's shops. In great contrast to his best friend's night stand, Chuck kept several things on his; a photo of Catherine, a photo of another girl who Briana suspected was his other little sister, a photo of Chuck with both of the girls, three large stacks of books, a small black journal with a lock on it, a mug for the Chudley Cannons that held several quills in it, seven bottles of cologne, and what appeared to be a small, hand-made music box.

Briana enjoyed Draco's night stand the most, probably because a few things on it had to do with her, or maybe just because she knew how much everything on it actually meant to him if he kept them right there. On his bedside table, Draco kept two large books, a moving poster of the Bulgarian National Quidditch team, a small leather green journal, a stack of owls that all seemed to be from his mother, a medium-sized blue glass bottle (which held a potion that would disguise Draco's death mark for periods of time), two jars of sugared butterfly wings, and a daisy chain laying on the surface.

What captured Briana's attention the most, however, was the mirror propped up along the wall so it sat on the table. It had many things stuck magically in place on it, all of which were a wonder to look at. Most of them were photographs; one of six-year-old Draco at a festival with his mother, one of Briana and Draco when she had first moved into the house next door, a family photo of the three Malfoy's from Draco's fourth year, a photo of Draco, Chuck, Blaise and Alex in the snow in their second year, a single photo of Narcissa alone in which she looked particularly beautiful, and then there was a photo of Draco and Briana that she had never seen before.

It was from the day that they had been reunited, less than a month ago in the Malfoy's gardens. The image captured Briana and Draco hugging each other tightly before smiling broadly at each other. Briana never knew this photo even existed, and she was slightly surprised to see just how happy she appeared in it. Nevertheless, it captured a memory that she treasures deep within and she loved it immensely.

Investigating all of the boy's belonging's told her a bit about each of them. If there's one thing Briana loves, it's to learn about people she cares for. After her thorough admirations of each of the bedside tables, the girl sat down with Draco on his comfortable bed where they engaged in conversation.

"How's your first day at Hogwarts?", Draco asked his best friend.

"Alright," she answered. "The classes are just the same as the ones at my old school."

"Not too surprising, I suppose."

"So, Draco..."

"So, Briana...?"

"How have you been holding up? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt much anymore...", he absentmindedly stared at the area of his forearm where the dark mark was, however skin appeared blank at the moment, thanks to a special potion he had been given which now resided on his bedside table.

"Have you been... working on your... task?"

"Sort of...", he ran a hand through his hair. "I just try not to think about what it is that I'm doing."

Briana sighed and embraced him in a hug that Draco didn't return, because he was too deep in thought. Thoughts about having to murder his headmaster. He looked spaced out and pondering deeply about things, and Briana noticed.

"Stop thinking about it," she ordered him quietly.

"It's a bit difficult not to," he told her somewhat bitterly.

"Well come on then," Briana stood up. "Let's do something."

He stared up at her, "Do what?"

She shrugged, "Take me on a walk around the castle or something. I'm still new here, you know."

"You want a tour?"

"Please," she grinned at him.

"Get up then," Draco told her as he stood up himself.

She stood up happily and smiled broadly at him before he took her arm and began to lead her out of the common room and around the giant, amazing castle.


	22. Chapter 21

Two weeks had passed since the first day of school, and classes were just the same. They had began to start learning new topics, some of which Briana found simple enough to grasp while other concepts were completely foreign to her. Outside, the sky grew darker every day and it often rained, soaking the school grounds and creating large puddles. A few puddles were so deep that the water reached to some of the first years midsections. Once in a while, violent winds would blow all around, capable of knocking Professor Flitwick off his feet. Due to the dreadful weather, students would usually travel in packs as a means to stay warm and safe.

Briana was barely following along in History of Magic thanks to Chuck and she, in return, aided him in Potions. She was taking Alchemy with all Seventh years plus Letha, and she had Advanced Astronomy with Alex and Ethan Bentley, as she later found out. Every day, Ethan would sit with Briana and Alex just so he could flirt with her which Alex found extremely irritating (Briana was annoyed by this most of the time as well, though she was much better at hiding it) but neither of them said anything about it. Briana also began to spend her free periods alone, usually writing essays, because Draco left to work on his "project".

Just as they had agreed to do in the Summer, the group of six friends all spent a lot of time together. Of course, every now and then Draco would be absent due to his assignment. Kaylee and Chuck mostly spent time with one another, which left Alex, Blaise, Letha and Briana to hang out with each other. Even in that group of four, Blaise and Letha would sometimes go off by themselves to the library. Briana and Kaylee had both found this suspicious and asked Letha what the story behind it was.

"I just help him out with a lot of his studies," Letha had told them. The three of them were walking to dinner after doing two hours of homework in the library.

"Oh, rubbish! There's more to it than that!", Kaylee exclaimed.

"Okay, and we've been getting to know each other better," she admitted shyly.

"Aw, you guys would make just the cutest couple!", Briana gushed.

"Whoa, we're not quite there yet!", Letha laughed. "And anyways, we'd be nothing compared to Chuck and Kayleeeeee!"

Kaylee hit her playfully, "Stop! We're not an item."

"Yet," Letha teased.

"So what are you guys doing all the times that you run off from the rest of us?", Briana asked. "Don't try to tell me you study either, because we all know that you and Chuck are both the type to get nasty."

"This is true," Kaylee admitted. "Alright, so we... hit it off really really well one day, and then we kissed."

"OH MY GODRIC!", Letha screamed, stopping for a second in the dimly-lit and quiet corridor.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US BECAUSE...?!"

"I don't know, really. And that's just half of it! Didn't want your disapproving comments, I suppose."

"Pshaw! I completely approve! That is, if you're not just doing this to get... busy," Briana told her honestly.

"Well that's where we are right now."

"Oh my Godric, so you guys are already shagging?", Letha gasped.

"Erm... yes."

"Why don't you two just date?", Briana asked.

"He doesn't want a relationship yet, but I think I could get him there eventually," she smiled to herself, causing her friends to smile along with her.

"I just hope you're using protection...," Briana added slyly as they reached the Great Hall.

Since it seemed everyone was busy with getting themselves a relationship except for Briana, she spent almost all of her time with Alex. He had been talking a bit more around and to her, whereas when they first met, he hardly said two words in front of her. The two of them often engaged in debates about anything and everything, played Wizard's chess, and did Astronomy homework together. Briana always saw Alex as a quiet person, and she felt obligated to act as a sort of mother figure towards him. He seemed to accept the actions eagerly.

One Friday evening, a half hour after classes had gotten out, Briana was in the common room sitting on the couch with Draco as the two of them were finishing their DADA homework. Suddenly, Daphne and Nigella came bounding down the stairs with several books in hand. Briana sent them a smile as Daphne approached her. She handed over a letter in her hand that was addressed to Briana, saying an owl had dropped it off in their dormitory before it flew off. Briana thanked her kindly as Daphne and Nigella left the common room. She ripped the envelope open and quickly began to read the letter it held. Draco watched her face closely as she continued to read, a pained look on her face.

"What's that about?", he asked her.

"Um... Apparently I have to go get my photos taken so that my dance portfolio is updated."

"Right, don't you have to get new photos every year?"

"Yes," Briana mumbled. She had never been a particularly big fan of photo shoots.

She wrote her mother an owl back and folded it up, putting it daintily in an envelope. Briana stood up and left the Common Room to head off to the Owlery in order to send the owl. On her way there, she happened to see Kaylee and Chuck making out on one of the staircases near the greenhouses. Briana had stealthily tossed a small rock in their general direction before she ran off with an amused smirk on her face, Kaylee yelling playfully after her and Chuck jokingly calling her a female dog.

Briana stuffed her hands in her coat pockets as she saw her breath in a white cloud in front of her. She walked quickly up the stone stairs and entered the dirty, cold and rather dusty Owlery where she was surprised to see Alex. She eyed him suspiciously as he set his owl free out of one of the windows before turning around to face her. Upon seeing that she was there, Alex's cheeks turned red as he immediately looked to the ground and cursed quietly to himself.

He continued to stand where he was, looking down while Briana tied her letter to one of the school's owls and sent it on it's way. After the bird had taken off into the dark landscape, she slowly walked over to her friend, eager to find out about his actions.

"What are you doing up here?", she asked him as casually as she could manage.

"Sending an owl of course," he still wasn't looking at her.

"To whom?"

"My grandmother, I've told you that before."

"Alex, most people don't exactly send their grandmother's owls everyday, sometimes even packages that smell as if they're filled with chocolate," she noted bluntly, recalling events that had taken place a few days earlier.

He shifted uncomfortably, "What are you supposing here?"

"Can't you just tell me who you're honestly sending owls to?", she practically begged him. "I know it's not your grandmother, and Chuck and I are so curious! I thought you trusted me well enough at this point to let me know. Or at least Chuck; he's your best friend!"

"It's a girl," Alex told her simply and quietly.

Briana stared at him for a moment, "A girl? Alex, that's brilliant! Who is she?!"

"Her name is Bridget... Bridget Beaudet."

"Well that's a very French name. Does she live in France?"

Alex nodded, finally making eye contact with his friend.

"How come you didn't... Where did you... Oh, I have so many questions! Can we go talk about this inside somewhere a bit warmer?!", Briana was very excited for him at this point.

From what Draco, Chuck and Blaise had told her, Alex has never had a girlfriend and he never got around nearly as much as they did. Alex agreed to the discussion that Briana had proposed and they descended the stairs of the Owlery then entered back into the main castle. Briana removed her green and grey Slytherin scarf as they walked in the common room where Draco was still completing his homework. He eyed the two of them as Briana stood in front of him sitting on the couch, Alex standing a couple feet behind her.

"Alex and I are about to go have a talk," she explained to him.

"What about?", he asked, glancing back at Alex.

"A girl he's been talking to. That's all I know, really, that's why he and I need to talk."

"A girl, yeah? I better find out about this later, but sure go have your talk. I'm heading to dinner in twenty minutes anyway," he waved them off, continuing to write.

The pair of them headed to Alex's dormitory where they made themselves comfortable on his bed. Alex sat at the head of his bed in his black sweatshirt and jeans, while Briana lounged next to him in her light wash skinny jeans and blue and white striped hoodie. She watched him expectantly for a few seconds before she realized she ought to prompt him.

"So, this girl... what's her name again?"

"Bridget Beaudet," Alex answered quietly.

"She lives in France, yeah? So how'd you happen to meet her?"

"Summer Culinary school."

"Culinary school?", Briana asked, her interest peaking. "I didn't know you cooked!"

"Basically my favorite thing to do. I go to this nice culinary school in Ireland every Summer."

"That's amazing! You must cook something up for me, one day! I bet you're brilliant."

Alex smiled shyly, "I suppose so. Anyway, Bridget joined my class this past Summer and we sort of clicked."

Briana nodded eagerly, "Just tell me the whole story, dear."

He looked a little excited to recount the story of how the two of them had met, a smile creeping across his face inconspicuously.

"I've attended this culinary institute in Ireland every Summer since third year, it's a fantastic place. The chefs there say I've got quite a bit of talent. I thrive there; it's pretty much my favorite place to be. So every year, every morning, I'd always been the first one to show up for class. Until this Summer. I walk in on the very first day, expecting to be there alone as always, but instead this short girl with bright red hair and tanned skin is sitting in the waiting room already. She had these intense big brown eyes, and wore lipstick the same color as her hair. I had never seen her before in my life. She's so... beautiful."

Briana smiled fondly at her friend, glad to see him so entranced, talking about this girl. He continued, "So me being me, I sat as far away from her as I could manage and didn't say a word to her. Everyone else began to arrive and we still hadn't even acknowledged each other's presence. This went on for the first two weeks. So when class started on the third week, we were given a sort of test to make sure we were following along well enough, where we had to demonstrate all these techniques. And as I'm finishing up, I turn around and see her crying to herself over in the pantry. I couldn't ignore her of course."

"Of course not," Briana shook her head, completely enthralled in the story.

"So I went to ask her what she was crying about and she just stared at me for a bit, still crying. Suddenly she bursts out, crying harder and she goes on to tell me that she's actually a pastry chef but her parents said that pastry chefs are not real chefs and she ought to try that out so they sent her to my school. Being a pastry chef, she was having a rather difficult time following along and she was afraid to fail. So I tried to cheer her up and helped her with all that I could. After that, we became really good friends and we talked every day. When the term ended, she said she would write to me everyday and so far... we have."

Alex finished his tale, looking up at Briana for the first time since he had first started telling it. She was grinning broadly at him with a look of admiration on her face.

"You really fancy Bridget, don't you?"

He nodded.

"You must miss her so much..."

"I do. I have been hoping to see her over Winter holiday, but that's still months away."

"Do you have a photograph of her, by any chance?"

"Yes, you'd like to see it?"

"Please," Briana smiled excitedly.

Alex reached over to his bedside table where he opened the single drawer in it, removed a photo and handed it to his friend. He watched her face intently as she gazed upon Bridget's flawless tanned face, long red hair and thin waist. She carefully handed the photo back to Alex who put it back in its place.

"She is stunning," Briana grinned at him.

"I know," he smiled to himself.

"So why have you been keeping her a secret from us?"

"Because that means Chuck, Blaise and Draco would find out," he said quickly, his mood darkening noticeably.

Briana was a little taken aback by his obvious change in mood, "And what's so bad about that?"

"They make so much fun of me," he answered, looking at her with a pained expression.

"About what? You think they'd make fun of Bridget?"

"Not fun of her, fun of me! As they're always doing," he told her bitterly.

Briana shook her head in confusion, "What's there to make fun of?"

"My extensive lack of experience in... certain areas..."

"Oh, you mean... Like they make fun of you for not getting around like they do?"

He nodded, then added, "They like to crack jokes a lot of the time about me being a virgin. Sometimes you, Briana, add to the fun without knowing it. Like when you said you call me Booboo because of how 'sweet and innocent' I am?"

"But Alex, that isn't something you ought to be ashamed of," she told him sincerely.

"It is to me. Around here. Especially as a Slytherin."

Briana shook her head at him, "You can't let that control all that you do."

"It's not that I haven't wanted to have sex, it's just that I'm so shy and stuff around people, girl's especially, that I just don't do a thing. I'm only able to talk to you the way I am now because we've been such good friends for the past month or so. I just don't want the boys to pester me about it anymore, you know?" he sighed. "They act like I'm much less significant and worthy of respect than them just because of how inexperienced I am, you know? That's why everyone, even you girls, treat me as the baby of the group."

She watched him carefully, "Well, make things change."

"What?", he stared at her.

"Change the way things are so that they'll give you the respect you want and everyone will stop treating you like a little baby."

"Of course," Alex said slowly, his eyes filling with hope. "Briana..."

"Yes?"

"Would you help me?"

"With what, exactly?"

"Helping me lose my virginity."

She shook her head vigorously, "That's not exactly what I meant-"

"I've decided that I want to, though," he told her seriously. "Do you not want to help me?"

"Of course I do," Briana sighed. "Alright. So, what? Do you want me to set you up with a certain girl or something?"

He shook his head, staring her in the eyes, "No, I want to lose my virginity to you."

Her brown eyes widened in shock, surprise, confusion and amusement all at once, "Alex, absolutely not! Why me, of all people?"

"You love me, right? And everyone always says to lose your V-card to someone you love. I love you, as a friend. You're my best friend, you know, next to Chuck."

"But it's more than that. Are you sure you don't want to save it for Bridget?"

"She doesn't love me. Yet, anyways. And even though I think she's brilliant in every way, I'm not all that sure how much I trust her yet. I trust you with everything I have, that's why I'm telling you all this, right now."

Briana shook her head again, "But what would we tell the others?"

"It's not that I like you like that, of course. No offense. This is an act out of friendship, yeah?", he reasoned.

"Yeah...," she agreed a bit hesitantly.

"They're our real friends, Briana; they would understand. And I will take full ownership for the idea. Even if they do get mad at us, then at least we'll still have each other."

"When you put it that way...", Briana's head was swimming.

The two of them sat on the bed for a couple minutes, neither of them saying anything but just staring at each other. Briana suddenly crawled over to Alex until she was right in front of him, never breaking eye contact when she slowly and gently placed her plump lips upon his and they kissed. They pulled away for a second before going in for another kiss, this time more aggressive. Their kissing turned into light snogging that steadily grew more heated by the minute.

By this time, they had both taken their sweaters off as Briana sat on Alex's lap. She pulled away from him to take his shirt off before removing her own. When it was tossed to the floor, she stared deeply into Alex's eyes to try and see what he was feeling. He was excited, nervous, happy, scared and aroused all at once.

She stroked part of his hair lightly, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," he answered her, going in for another kiss. But she stopped him.

"I just don't want you to be making any rash decisions..."

"Briana. I'm really excited about this, but even more nervous. But I know that this is what I want to do."

She nodded in understanding, finally convinced that the whole situation was right, "Calm down, Alex, it's alright. It's okay to be nervous but there's nothing to worry about. Just have fun an enjoy it."

He nodded quickly before they dove into another snogging section in which they peeled odd all of their clothing and got to business. Draco, Flint, Blaise and Chuck didn't return from dinner until nearly two hours later, which was more than enough time for Briana and Alex to finish, calm down, and get dressed again. The two friends talked for a little while about what they had just done before falling asleep in Alex's bed, closer friends than ever.


	23. Chapter 22

The same night, as Alex and Briana were upstairs engaging in other activities... Blaise, Chuck, Kaylee and Letha all sat together in the Great Hall, enjoying their dinners. Draco sat down to join them as Kaylee tilted her head and gave him an interested look, "Where's Briana and Alex?"

"They said they're having an important talk," he explained, serving himself a plentiful helping of food.

"So then... this is the perfect opportunity! Speaking of important talks, as we are...", Kaylee began.

"Perfect opportunity for what?", Draco asked, confused with a mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"Whether you've made up your mind yet!", Letha pressed. "About Briana!?"

"What?!", he exclaimed, taken aback. "How do you know?!"

"Come off it! Everyone knows, it's quite obvious! Plus Kaylee is practically my sister, she can't keep a secret from me," Letha explained. "And I am hurt that everyone in our group was TOLD about this from you except for me!"

"Shut up, Letha! This discussion isn't about your feelings, it's about Draco's!", Chuck took over. "Soooo? Any developments, old chap?"

"Since when did you start saying 'old chap'?", Draco asked.

"Stop trying to change the subject, old chap."

"I'm not, pal."

"Then tell us, old chap! Go on!"

"What am I supposed to tell you?", Draco looked around at their increasingly anxious expressions.

"How you fancy Briana so much that you've come to the conclusion that you're mad for her," Blaise said, half-sarcastically.

"Okay," Draco said simply. The others sat in silence for a minute, half-confused.

"Okay, what?", Kaylee stared at him. "Okay, what Blaise just said is accurate?"

"Yeah," he answered shortly again, busying himself by stuffing his face with food.

"Oh my Godric!", Letha and Chuck yelled in unison.

"I knew it," Blaise smirked at Draco. "You have to do something about it then."

"Why's that?!"

"Because if you don't, somebody else will," Letha said. "I don't know if you've noticed, Draco, but there are tons of guys here who fancy Briana from afar. One of them might make a move before you do and then... well, she might start seeing someone else."

"Personally," Kaylee added. "I think Briana fancies you, and she's just patiently waiting for you to come riding up to her on your white stallion."

"Do you really think so?", Draco thought over all that they were saying to him.

"Yeah! Just go for it, mate!", Chuck fist-pumped.

"I know you have other things that may be more important," Blaise gave him a secretive look, being the only one at the table who knew of Draco's task. "But Briana is able to bring out the best in you, and I have a feeling that if the two of you got together everything would be less stressful for you."

"Plus, once you get that out of the way, it's just one less thing to worry about, yeah?", Chuck pointed out.

Draco sat, thinking deeply for a minute, before announcing to his group of friends, "Alright, I'll say something. But I don't know when so don't expect anything grand to happen overnight!"

Each of his friends made some sort of celebratory remark and movement before Chuck winked at him and Letha sent him a gigantic, excited smile, clapping her hands together in excitement for her friends.

Alex awoke the next morning with vivid memories from last night rushing back to his mind. Then he had a horrible realization: he had slept with Briana, Draco Malfoy's best friend that he _liked_. He held his head in his hands, filling himself with worry. Looking around, he saw Blaise, Chuck, Draco and Flint all sleeping their beds still. It was only 7 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday, after all. Alex then noticed that Briana wasn't even in his bed anymore. She must be awake and roaming the castle already.

Being a bit of an early-riser himself, Alex got out of bed to get dressed then head to the Great Hall for breakfast. As he walked down the corridors, the very little sun shone through the many grey clouds littering the sky. Once again, it was a cold day with bitter winds every now and then. The ground was muddy and wet, so it must have been raining last night. The weather would only get worse from here; it was only October 2nd.

When he finally reached the Hall, Alex found it was just as he suspected: Briana was already sitting at the Slytherin table, nibbling on a piece of toast. He quietly approached her, sitting across the wooden table from her. She gave him a warm, small smile as he poured himself some pumpkin juice. He looked dreadful, in the sense that he seemed to be nervous, scared, a bit sad and very alert. It didn't take more than a second for Briana to figure why this was, and she sympathized with him because she was sort of feeling the same way.

"Alex," she spoke to him quietly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm gonna die," he told her with a freakishly serious expression upon his face.

"No you are not, it's all going to be alright," Briana wondered which of them she was trying to convince more.

"Draco is going to kill me," he shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

"I imagine he'll be angry, but he won't hurt you," she told him honestly. "And he'll be mad at me, just the same."

"Bloody hell, I'm so scared though."

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"Why are you apologizing?", he stared at her intensely. "Don't think I regret the decision I made; it's what I wanted and that hasn't changed. I just guess I hadn't exactly thought out all of the aftermath."

Briana nodded, "Well, it's like you said last night: even if all of them are furious with us, at least we'll both have one another."

Alex nodded solemnly at her before downing the rest of his juice. About fifteen minutes later, Chuck and Blaise came walking into the Great Hall still looking half-asleep. Briana could hear Alex whimper slightly as the two of them sat down on either side of him.

"Good morning," Blaise said sleepily.

"Morning," Briana replied.

"I don't recall seeing you two at dinner last night, then we go upstairs and see you two crashed on Alex's bed?" Chuck recounted as he served himself some fruit. "What's with that?"

"Draco told us they were having an important talk, remember?", Blaise added.

"Must have been a very important to talk nearly three hours," Chuck chuckled lightly as Alex groaned and Briana's cheeks picked up a pink color.

Not too long after this exchange, Letha, Kaylee and Draco made their way to join the others at the table. Kaylee sat herself next to Chuck while Letha and Draco both sat on Briana's left side. Alex hadn't eaten anything; just sat there making very very small talk with the others, though now that Draco had arrived, he seemed to be taking deeper breaths and was covering his face with his hands.

"So how did your talk go, then?", was the first thing Draco said as he started eating his breakfast.

"It went wonderfully," Briana answered, glancing at Alex.

"Good. So when do we get to hear what it was about?", he asked them.

"Yeah, I don't like being left out," Chuck added. "We're best mates, remember Alex?"

Alex nodded, looking down and cracking his knuckles nervously.

"Well... It's a bit.. difficult to explain... We're still trying to figure out exactly how to inform you," Briana said slowly.

"How difficult could it be?", Kaylee asked, giggling.

"It's not something we can just-"

"Come on, just spill it!", Chuck egged her on.

"Yeah, I mean, we're all mates here," Blaise said. "No secrets, yeah?"

"But it's not that easy-", Briana started, getting irritated.

"No secrets!", Letha exclaimed.

"Alright, you guys really want me to just throw it out there?!", Briana suddenly exclaimed.

"Yes!", they all answered eagerly, except for Draco who was watching her carefully and Alex who was practically hiding underneath the table.

"Fine! Alex and I had sex! He decided to lose his virginity to me!", she whisper-yelled dramatically, exasperated and slightly annoyed at her friends. But she was still apprehensive and nervous for their reactions.

Alex's entire face was red, though one couldn't tell because he was covering it up with his hands. Kaylee and Blaise had their mouths hanging open, Letha had both hands to her mouth and her eyes wide, while Chuck laughed disbelievingly, exclaiming, "No way!" about three times in a row.

"I'm not lying, Chuck. That's what happened. Are you happy I told you now?"

"Oh my...," Letha put a hand to her cheek in a worried manner as she stared at Alex's head.

"Brilliant job, Alex!", Chuck suddenly outburst, patting Alex on the back. "You know how many guys must be envious of you right now?"

"Shut up," Alex whispered to Chuck as a warning.

"Oh shit, I totally forgot...," Chuck mumbled, feeling guilty as he then turned to watch Draco.

All of them were staring at Draco by this time, whose narrowed eyes were continuously bouncing back and forth between Briana and Alex. He was clenching his jaw as he gripped the table so tightly that his knuckles were getting sore.

"Draco..." Briana called his name quietly, watching him nervously.

"I'll be leaving now, before I say or do anything to hurt either one of you," he said in an excruciatingly calm manner before standing up and striding out of the Great Hall.

Briana stared after him before turning back to her friends at the table. Letha sent her a look full of worry while Kaylee smirked, saying, "And you were dogging me for sleeping with Chuck..." Blaise was giving her mixed emotions while an eyebrow was raised, and Chuck smiled cheekily at her, winked then proceeded to pester Alex, who had sat back up now.

"Alexander Whittaker!", Chuck exclaimed, a smirk on his face. Alex stared at him, having a feeling he knew what was coming. "Here you are, the baby of the group... Always quiet and innocent, but then BAM! One morning, suddenly that Alex is gone! You're like... On my level now! I mean, you got it in with Briana!"

"Chuck! Stop it!", Letha was giving him a stern look and he backed off. She then turned to Briana and Alex, "I demand an explanation from the two of you!"

"Yeah, I don't quite understand why you guys... did that," Blaise said.

Alex was sitting up again now, "Well I was telling Briana all about Bridget, this girl I really really like, and the conversation started to take another turn about how YOU GUYS are constantly treating me like and referring to me as the baby of the group, all 'innocent, sweet and baby Alex' twenty-four/seven! Briana asked why I thought that was and I explained to her that I was inexperienced and a virgin, basically everything you guys like to make fun of. And believe me, when I offered up the idea, Briana did not want to do it. But I kind of persuaded her into it."

"No, we BOTH came up with reasons as to why it made sense and why it was a justified action. Alex doesn't like me that way, and I don't like him in that way either. We're just like best friends and I don't want any of you guys to think otherwise," Briana finalized.

All of their friends nodded in understanding, though Chuck was still showing hints of his smirk.

"That's the most I've heard Alex talk since I first met him!" Letha said.

"Things change, you know," Alex retaliated.

"Well who the bloody hell is Bridget?! Come on, tell us the story!", Kaylee advised Alex.

Briana stood up to leave, "Why don't you tell them the story and I'll go off and find Draco..."

"Oh, alright then...," Alex answered. He began to tell his and Bridget's story to his friends' eagerly listening ears as Briana stalked out of the Great Hall to find her best friend. If that's what he still was, anyways.

Twenty minutes after a wild search, Briana found Draco outside of the castle on the far side of the Black Lake where most of the Slytherin's would reside. He was sitting on the edge of the water, black pants rolled up and his bare feet dangling in the dark water. The long sleeves of his white button up were rolled up too, and as Briana slowly got closer to him she could see how distant his eyes were.

When she was standing right next to him, he continued to look off into the distance but she knew that he was aware of her presence. Wearing the black dress that she was, Briana kicked off her shoes and let her feet dangle in the water next to Draco's. After they had sat in silence for a few minutes, Briana attempted the conversation she was sort of dreading, but knew had to be brought up.

"Draco. I know that you're angry with me," she said quietly.

He didn't look at her still, asking coldly, "Why did you do it?"

"Draco... I want you to know that Alex and I don't fancy each other at all. It was merely an act out of friendship, I was only trying to help him out." Briana furrowed her brow, sort of talking to herself now. She was on a roll, and got into one of her trances where she couldn't stop talking, "And we were both quite hesitant about the idea, at first. But we sort of came up with ideas as to why it was okay, you know?"

"I don't really think that I expected that from you, of all people."

"It's not like we planned it. Erm, well I didn't anyway...," Briana began going off in a bit of a speech, speaking more to herself than Draco. "Alex fancies this girl he met sooo much, but he felt so inferior because of all of us babying him, INCLUDING YOU. But I know that I made the decision to take part in the deed, and what's done is done. I knew it wouldn't be the easiest thing to tell you, but can you please come to terms with the fact that this whole thing wasn't planned at all, and there is nothing going on romantically between Alex and I."

Draco was staring at Briana now, knowing that she forgot he was there. And she kept talking, "It's kind of funny that I've got to explain all this to you. I feel like it's sort of automatic that I am doing this, I mean, seeing as we're best friends and all... But in my mind, it seems to be more than that. Like there's a reason I had to explain to you that there's nothing going on between Alex and I. Like we're more than best friends..."

Briana broke out of her reverie and looked around to meet Draco's blue eyes, filled with the slightest bit of confusion and a grand amount of hope. Briana's eyes widened for a second before she buried her face in her hands. She was finally coming into contact with her feelings for Draco. They were real. They existed. They were there before she even realized it was a possibility. Briana loved Draco; but as more than best friends.

"Why did you stop talking?", Draco asked her quietly.

"Because I realized what I was about to say," she replied at the same, low volume.

"What were you about to say?", he was watching her carefully.

She sat up and looked at him, "I'm afraid to say it."

"I'm in love with you, Briana," he said suddenly.

And from across the lake, Alex, Blaise, Chuck, Kaylee and Letha were all there to witness Draco crash his lips down onto Briana's.


	24. Chapter 23

Briana was overwhelmed with the vast amount of emotions she felt in a span of just a couple seconds. She was surprised, happy, scared, calm, and panicked all at once. Draco Malfoy, her best friend of a decade, had just confessed he was in love with her then continued on to kiss her. She was surprised that he had done such a thing so suddenly, and that he indeed had such feelings for her. Happy that this was all happening, happy because she loved him back. She was scared because she didn't know what would happen after the kiss. Calm because the feeling of Draco's mouth upon hers brought her such serenity that she didn't want to pull away. And she was panicked because... well, their friendship was at stake!

She didn't kiss him back, and after a few seconds, Draco pulled away and stared at her. He, too, was feeling a whirlpool of emotions. The pro's and con's of the actions he just committed were all flooding to his head at once. Frankly, he was more scared than anything. He had done it; he had fessed up to his feelings for her. So now would they be an item, would they remain friends, or worst of all, would they never talk again? What was she thinking? What was she feeling? Why didn't she kiss him back?

As Briana stared back at her best friend's face, she was even more surprised to see his cheeks burning red. Briana wondered what she must have looked like, she was so confused. Draco couldn't read her facial expression, and she could tell he was desperate for an answer. He gave up with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, shaking his head.

"What are you sorry for?", Briana asked, suddenly a clear emotion on her face: disappointment.

"Well... I mean... you didn't," Draco attempted an explanation. "You just sat there."

"Then I'm the one who ought to do the apologizing," she said quietly.

"Why is that?", the two of them never broke eye contact.

"Because I didn't tell.. er... show you that I feel the same way," Briana made a mental note to herself to stop acting like such an idiot and show him how she felt.

Draco stared at her curiously, so much hope glinting in his blue eyes as he watched her slowly lean closer to him.

"I'm in love with you too, Draco," she told him in a peaceful tone. She took a second to deeply admire the first big smile she'd seen on Draco since they'd been re-united, before she closed the gap between them and united their lips.

Once again, Briana felt the serenity when she kissed him, Draco, trying to show him all the feelings she had for him right there. Draco was reeling at this point, he wanted to capture this moment in a jar to forever hold this feeling of pure bliss. The two of them were happy together, and that's all that really mattered. Feet out of the water, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace as she nicely placed her arms around his neck. Their kissing slowly advanced to very light making out, but they pulled away before the kiss was too long and before the moment was ruined.

Breaking away from the embrace, they found both of themselves laughing lightly. Draco was so ecstatic to see his best friend smiling so widely because of him, and Briana marveled at the sight of his pearly whites being displayed so effortlessly. She preferred this Draco any day over the Draco she'd been seeing lurking the castle those days. But neither of them knew exactly what to say.

"So," Draco began in an awkward sort of way. "You.. love me?"

Briana nodded, trying to hide the gigantic smile she felt arising, "I love you."

It took all Draco had not to outburst with happiness, "I love you too."

"So what does this mean for us then?", she asked him, and herself, in a way.

"Well... Would you like to be my girlfriend?", he scratched the back of his head nervously, and Briana found it adorable.

"I would love to," she answered him. Neither of them bothered to hide their bright and genuine smiles that time.

Draco scooted closer to her, smile still on his face, taking her hand in his which made Briana smile more. "Are you sure Pansy will approve?", she asked mockingly.

He scoffed, "She probably won't. But I could not care any less."

"Kiss me," she demanded of him, glancing at his lips.

Draco smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Why on Earth would I do that?"

"Because I want to kiss you again, knowing that you're all mine now."

He found himself smiling again as they shared another passionate kiss.

Draco stared at Briana admiringly. She was his, now.

"Why are you staring at me like that?", Briana asked, titling her head slightly.

"I just enjoy looking at you, knowing that you're my girlfriend," he had the largest of smiles formed from his lips; the word 'girlfriend' felt so wonderful escaping his mouth. His mind was doing happy back flips, in the blissful realization that 'Briana' and 'girlfriend' were synonyms. He was able to call her his girlfriend, and that elated him.

"Get up, my lovely boyfriend," Briana said, giggling in happiness at the use of the word.

He did as told and stood next to her, and she embraced him in a hug.

"It's raining," Draco whispered, taking notice of the grey clouds dropping water down on them.

"I don't really care," she whispered back.

"But I do care, because I don't want either of us catching a cold."

"Well spotted."

Draco picked up his coat and held it over both of their heads as Briana clutched his arm and they walked back towards the castle. Suddenly, ahead of them they saw the rest of their friends trying to run into the castle before they were spotted, several pairs of feet pattering against the wet stone floors.

"You've got to be joking me!", Briana exclaimed after them, laughing anyway. "You guys are such terrible people!"

"Get your own lives, losers!", Draco yelled, then the two of them ran after them as they laughed, returning to the Slytherin common room.

By dinner time, news had spread completely around the school that Briana and Draco were now a couple. Thanks to the third years who couldn't keep from spying on them in the Common Room, not to mention Letha, Chuck and Kaylee were so excited about the news that they were practically yelling it down the corridors. Since everyone knew at this point, both Briana and Draco received their fare share of glares from jealous and envious people as they passed them throughout the castle. Pansy had even told Briana to watch her back about twenty times within two hours.

Draco and Alex had actually gone up to their dormitory and locked themselves in there for hours, talking about what had happened as they sorted everything out, Alex informed Draco all about Bridget and Draco had given him "tips for chicks", as he called them. At this point in time, it was safe to say that everyone was on the same page once more.

The next morning in the Great Hall, Hermione Granger was somewhat surprised to find that neither of her two best friends had caught wind of the news of the couple that was now referred to as "Driana". Apparently, most Gryffindor's and Slytherin's don't mettle in each other's personal lives very much. She had sat down to join Harry and Ron at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, finding herself eager to discuss the subject.

"I'm assuming you two have heard about Hogwarts' newest couple?", she asked them as she got herself some food.

"Not really," Ron answered with a mouth full of food, as a few crumbs flew from his mouth.

"Who?", Harry asked her, stealing a disgusted glance in Ron's direction.

"Really?! Everyone's been talking about Malfoy's new girlfriend!", she exclaimed.

"Dating that pig Pansy again, is he?", Ron asked, incredibly uninterested.

"As if! You really think there would be this much buzz over that?", Hermione sneered. "You know Briana? The one who's in that group of his, and we saw her this Summer? SHE'S his new girlfriend!"

"And why do we care so much about this?", Harry gave her a slightly bored expression.

"Well as much as I despise Malfoy, they're such a cute couple," she noted as Ron snorted at her. "But more than that, haven't either one of you noticed how less terrible Malfoy's been since she came around? Personally, I don't see him taunting any first year's anymore, or anyone really for that matter. of course he always makes some time to pester Harry, but that's given..."

"It's not because of Brightsman, it's because he's a Death Eater now. How many times have I brought this up now?"

"Mate, you've got no proof to back that up," Ron told him for what felt like the millionth time.

"Seems to me like you just want a reason to hate him," Hermione whispered slyly. "Like you're sick with the fact that he could be becoming a better person."

"Whatever," Harry stood up to leave. "But when he drags us to Voldemort with a smile on his face, don't say I didn't warn you."

As he left the Hall, Ron turned to Hermione, "If you ask me, he needs a girl more than Malfoy."

Briana attended all her classes as she was supposed to, but instead of heading to her last class of the day, Alchemy, it was announced that all students in fifth, sixth and seventh years were supposed to gather in their common rooms to hear an announcement from their head of houses. Walking with Kaylee to the Slytherin Common Room, the two of them concocted ideas as to what must be happening when Ethan Bentley of all people began to walk with them.

"Hi," he greeted them casually as the three of them walked among a crowd of several other Slytherin's.

"Briana's with Draco now, so there's no need to flirt with her," Kaylee was quick to try and rid of him.

"All I said was hi," he glared at her.

"Kaylee shut up, he's just saying hello," Briana reprimanded her friend before turning to Ethan. "Any idea what's going on here?"

"Zero idea, actually. I was going to ask you the same."

"Kaylee and I think there was a series of House Elf murders in the castle," Briana joked, remembering one of the many theories the two of them had.

"Is that so?", he smirked in amusement. "Thought there would be more logic in that pretty head of yours."

Briana and Kaylee exchanged a knowing glance before Briana replied, "We can be quite immature at times, I suppose."

"Very intriguing," his smirk became more pronounced before he disappeared into the portrait hole.

Kaylee and Briana went in as well, followed by many other Slytherin's. They spotted Chuck, Draco and Alex sitting on a sofa they had managed to claim as theirs, and they walked over to join them. Kaylee sat between Alex and Chuck as Briana took a seat on Draco's lap and gave him a small peck on the lips. Before she could ask him if he knew what was going on, Kaylee had to speak up.

"Bentley was hitting on your girlfriend," she leaned over Chuck to look at Draco, malice evident in her sparkling eyes.

Briana gave her a stern look, "But we managed to keep him at bay, yes?"

"For now," Kaylee said, that mischievous look of hers upon her face.

"I hate that git," Chuck spat.

"He just wants to shag you," Alex told Briana, as if she wasn't aware of this fact already.

Draco glared at the back of Ethan's head from across the room, "And if he ever tries to do that, I'll break of his bloody arms."

"But you won't have to do that," Briana poked his nose, and gave him a reassuring smile. "because I won't let him touch me."

Draco gave a small smile back before pulling Briana closer to him and wrapping his hands around her stomach.

Kaylee sent the two of them an admiring smile, then thought of something, "Oi, where's Blaise?"

"Oh, he's come down with a cold," Alex explained. He'd been talking much much more often since the incident with Briana. "He spent too much time taking sentimental walks in the rain with lovely Letha," he mocked.

"Aw, they're so cute!", Kaylee and Briana gushed.

"But nobody matches up to the almighty 'Driana'," Chuck winked at them, and Draco smirked while Briana stuck out her tongue playfully.

Not too long after, Snape finally entered the common room and everyone quickly quieted down, just as if they were in his classroom. Every student watched him intently, wondering what the supposedly big announcement was. Everybody had a feeling it was some bad news, because only fifth years and up were allowed to hear. So when Severus Snape opened his mouth to speak, they clung to every word.

"Personally, I rather think this has been made a bigger deal than it ought to be; therefore, I will keep this announcement short and simple."

The students raised their eyebrows, eager for the news as he continued, "Halloween is in two weeks, and the headmaster has, for some reason, found it appropriate to hold a costume ball in the Great Hall the night of Halloween, from seven in the evening to midnight. I assume you've all guessed at this point that no student below fifth year may attend unless they are someone's date. You all know the rules and I hardly expect you to follow them, though the headmaster does. There have not been any restrictions on costumes, but you should know your own limits. That is all. Usually this would take longer, but since I couldn't care less, we are done extremely early. You have no more classes today. Any questions?"

A small fifth year boy raised his hand slowly, earning a short glare from Snape who then said, "No questions, good." And then he was gone. Immediately after he had left, a buzz took over the common room. They were all excited and actually greatly relieved that it wasn't a negative announcement like they had all anticipated.

Briana and Kaylee looked excitedly at each other with large smiles upon their faces.

"A costume ball!", Briana squealed.

"You know what that means, girl!", Kaylee matched her eagerness as they squealed together in excitement.

"Wait, what does that mean?", Alex asked, confused.

"Well you see," Chuck explained. "Many teenage girls simply use Halloween as an excuse to dress rather slutty, you know. With the costumes."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, so it's pretty much my favorite holiday," Chuck added.

"Oh, didn't see that one coming," Alex sneered at him.

Briana put a finger to her chin in mock-consideration, "Hmm, now if only I had a date to this costume ball."

A random sixth year sitting behind them popped his head in, "I could be your date."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him and took Briana's hand in his protectively, "Over my dead body."

Briana smiled at him appreciatively and took a backwards glance at the random boy who retreated with a disappointed look on his face.

"So Briana, if you haven't made arrangements with anyone else," Draco began playfully. "Would you like to be my date to the costume ball?"

"I suppose I can cancel my previous arrangements just for you," she replied happily.

Briana then took a meaningful glance at Chuck who met her gaze, but quickly looked away and stood up, saying, "Better go tell Zabini the news."

Briana narrowed his eyes at him and whispered something to Draco before getting up and following Chuck up the stairs to their dormitory.


	25. Chapter 24

"Chuck!", Briana yelled after him as she ascended the stairs to the boys' dorm.

He had already made it to their room and was telling Blaise about the dance when she threw the door open. The boys looked up quickly as she shut the door quickly behind her.

"What?!", Chuck tried to look innocent as he sat on his bed.

"Don't 'what' me, you know exactly what this is about!", Briana exclaimed as she sat on Blaise's bed across from Chuck.

He crossed his arms, "I don't know what this is about, actually."

"Why won't you ask Kaylee to be your date to the dance?!"

"Why should I?"

"You're already shagging her left and right! Why shouldn't you?!"

"Asking her to be my date would insinuate that I fancy her."

She looked flabbergasted at him, "Excuse me?! So you don't fancy her at all? You're just sleeping with her because you can?!"

Chuck shrugged indifferently, "That's basically right."

Briana narrowed her eyes at him, "You're lying. LIAR!"

"What are you talking about?", he looked a bit uneasy.

"You DO fancy her!", she pointed a finger at him. "You just don't want to admit it!"

"That could not be any farther from the truth, my dear."

"Then why do I see fear in your eyes?", she stared him in the eyes until he finally met her gaze.

Chuck sighed as he gave in, plunging deep into a spiel about what he was feeling, "I can't fancy her, I can't fancy anyone! That's why I just sleep with people, I try to distant myself so I don't catch feelings for anyone. Like when I first met you, I didn't want to date you, I didn't even think about just being friends! Honestly, at first, I just wanted to get you in bed! No offense, that was way back when... At any rate, I can't ask her to be my date, because that would just.. just defeat the purpose of constantly sleeping with her! Do you not understand the purpose of a barrier, Briana? I can't get close to people, I forbid myself! That's why it has taken me years to finally accept the fact that I'm close to Draco, Alex and Blaise, and that's been hard enough as it is! I'm still telling myself not to get attached to you, but that's-"

"Charles Kaelan Solomon!", Briana yelled. She felt proud that she had remembered Chuck's full name,after he'd told her what it was a couple weeks ago.

Blaise continuously looked back and forth between the two of them, the incredulous look never leaving his face. This was the most action he'd seen all day, being sick and all.

"Why is it so difficult for you to get close to people?!", she asked him.

He didn't say anything, so Blaise spoke instead. "Three people," he said simply.

Briana turned to Blaise, "What?"

"He puts up a wall because of three people; Ethan, Olivia, and Sean," Blaise spoke quietly, stealing a glance at Chuck who sat with his head in his hands, looking down at the ground.

She glanced at him for a second too before turning back to Blaise, "And what's the story behind them?"

"Well, they've all betrayed his trust," Blaise began. When Chuck didn't interject or tell him to stop, Blaise delved into the intense elaborations on each of their stories. "Ethan Bentley, yes the one you know, was Chuck's best friend from the time they were nine until they were twelve. Their friendship ended when Chuck found out that Ethan had only been his friend all those years because Ethan had a bet with his father to see how long he could, and I quote, 'stand him'. Then after that's pretty much when Chuck became the best of friends with us. We knew him beforehand of course, but that was the moment we grew such strong bonds. That's why Chuck hates Ethan so much, yeah?"

Briana nodded a bit sadly and waited for Blaise to continue.

"Olivia Reyes. Her story..." Blaise shook his head somberly at the recollection of the girl. "This pretty girl used to go to Hogwarts named Olivia and ever since his first year, Chuck fancied her sooo much. So, it was like his dream come true when they started dating in third year. In the middle of fourth year though, Olivia transferred to Durmstrang,but they continued to date. It was a really nice, chill relationship, and they dated until a bit after the beginning of fifth year. They broke up because Chuck had found out that Olivia had been cheating on him for an entire year with not one, but two other guys. But the worst part is, Olivia had claimed that she had started dating one of the two other guys before she started dating Chuck, so she basically slapped him in the face again by stating that Chuck was technically 'the other guy'."

Briana shook her head at Blaise, her eyes wide and her mouth agape while Blaise nodded sadly and sent Chuck a look of pity. Chuck was still in the exact same position; he hadn't moved a muscle.

"So lastly, and what I believe is the worst of all, is Sean. Sean Solomon," Blaise continued on. "Obviously this is Chuck's father, perhaps you've head him mention his name before. Well... Sean has a massive addiction problem. An addiction to both drugs and alcohol. According to Chuck, he's had this addiction for as long as he can remember. Chuck once told Draco, Alex and I that Sean got so incredibly drunk and high that he... used the Cruciautus Curse on Chuck's little sister Andrea. She was left in such critical condition that she was taken away to live with their Aunt and Uncle. You know that everyone places massive amounts of trust in their parents, that's just automatic, you know? So after this particular incident, Chuck practically ordered his father to quit and he promised he would go to rehab until his habit was gone. So Sean left the house for, I want to say, five months? And he told them that this whole time he was at rehab. Well... A couple weeks after Sean returned, Chuck found out that he had really just gone to Vegas and practically partied, drunk and smoked the entire time... So if Chuck ever talks about his father, which he almost never does, it's always something negative. He honestly hates his father more than anyone else in the world."

Briana had a hand to her mouth and her eyebrows were pressed together in concern so hard that she almost gained a headache. Blaise had the absolute most guilty look on his face which confused Briana to the utmost, but she paid little attention to it because her only concern at the moment was Chuck. She looked at him and found he was still in the exact same position, only at this point in time, he was letting silent tears fall onto the floor below him. Frankly, the sight of his tears scared her, for she was so used to hearing laughter escape from the boy. Briana slowly got up and sat next to Chuck on his bed.

"Hey," she said quietly as she took his hand in hers. "I apologize for snapping at you earlier, I had... I had no idea..."

He didn't speak at all, and Briana took this as her opportunity to give a bit of a spiel.

She sighed, then began, "Look, Chuck... After hearing all that you've gone through.. and I still remember that thing you told me about at the park... I can clearly understand why you have such trust issues. But let me tell you a few things. For one, I want you to know right now that I will never ever ever do you any intentional harm in anyway, unless of course, it proves necessary. I am your friend for now and for always because I see the good in you and know how brilliant of a person you are, and I will never give you a reason not to trust me. I am willing to make that unbreakable vow right now, that is how serious I am. And I don't want to speak for them, but you have the boys too. You said so yourself that you've admitted how much they mean to you, you know that they will always be here for you as well. And secondly... I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but I am going to tell you anyways because it's the truth."

He still didn't speak, yet he was listening to her words with rapt attention. Briana continued. "You must acknowledge the trust and love that you've lost for people, but that doesn't mean you have to forgive them, and that certainly doesn't mean you ought to forget. But it does mean that you move forward. If you live your life thinking that everyone in the world is the same, and that absolutely no good people exist... If you believe that nobody is trustworthy or worth your love, then you are wasting your life. You trust the boys, and hopefully this all means that you trust me. And you've only known me for a few months, yeah? What if you had completely cut me off, then I would not be here right now to tell you all this. You're stuck thinking of all the negative things that can happen from you opening yourself up again, but you need to think of the wonders that can result from opening up. By letting me into your world, you've now got me as your best female friend, yeah? And if you open your feelings up to Kaylee, instead of thinking she'll end up like Olivia, think that you and her could have something that nobody has experienced before. You need to stop being negative and think of the positives, Chuck! Take a chance!"

Blaise and Chuck both stared at Briana in the deepest admiration. She had taught both of them an extremely valuable lesson, even if it wasn't exactly intended for Blaise too. Chuck gave Briana a big hug and she almost couldn't breathe.

"Briana, I love you so... freakin much," he told her seriously. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

She smiled at him, "You're welcome, my dear."

"I sort of feel invincible now, thanks to you. I think I ought to go find Kaylee right now and tell her... everything," he smiled and a minute later he was up and at the door. "By the way," he added. "Draco doesn't need to be mad about me telling you that I love you. I only meant it as my sister."

"Note taken, dear brother," she smiled extremely widely as she watched him leave the room.

Briana then turned to Blaise, and said, "Do I need to give you a pep talk as well? I need to see you and Letha official already..."

He chuckled, "We're taking things slow, we don't want to rush anything. Since she's never dated anyone before, you know."

"Right," she nodded understandably. She met Blaise's eyes, and he was smirking immensely at her with an eyebrow raised. She chuckled at his facial expression, "What's that look for?"

"You are the only person in the world who has become best friends with everyone in this group, by sleeping with one of them and yelling at another, and then made another one of them your boyfriend."

Briana tried to be angry and glare intensely at him, but she couldn't contain herself as they laughed together for a while until Blaise suddenly had a coughing fit, which only caused Briana to laugh even harder.

Later that night, Kaylee and Briana were up talking in their dormitory. Letha had spent the entire day tending to Blaise, so they didn't really have time to tell her the news, but they figured the boys would fill her in.

"Briana, you are literally the best friend I have ever had," Kaylee gave her probably the fortieth hug since that afternoon. Promptly after Briana had given Chuck that pep talk, he had marched Kaylee to a secluded corridor where they spent two hours talking to one another, and eventually became a couple.

"I know, I know, you love me," Briana smiled at her. "Amazing how a little speech can really turn a guy around though. Before, he was freaking out to even admit his feelings to ME about you, and minutes later he's confessing his feelings right to your face."

"Ugh, I cannot believe it, it's like... a dream come true," Kaylee smiled to herself. "I just hope we last."

"So does he. You guys both have trust issues, but I can tell that deep down you guys are like, the perfect couple. You're just afraid to admit that you are a couple because of what may happen."

"It's just that neither of us can screw up in anyway, we'd freak out too much."

"You guys will be fine, I know it," Briana patted her head reassuringly.

She smiled back and then thought for a second, "Why are you and Draco so perf, though?"

"But we aren't," Briana sighed, thinking about Draco, and how he was secretly a Death Eater, and how he was secretly plotting his own headmaster's death, and how Briana was keeping her own secrets from Draco and how she felt so guilty about it that she wanted to die.

"Well whatever troubles the two of you are hiding," Kaylee said as she walked to her own bed and got underneath the covers. "You are insanely brilliant at hiding them."

"Good to know, Mrs. Solomon," she replied slyly as she got under her covers as well, and they turned out the lights.

Briana wasn't able to fall asleep, though. Her conversation with Kaylee had just made her realize how incredibly guilty she felt that she was keeping this secret of hers from Draco, her best friend, her boyfriend. She knew everything about him, no reservations, yet here she was keeping quite a big secret from him. But inside, she knew why she wasn't telling him. She didn't want Draco to worry, get mad and have more things to think about than he needed. Briana had every intention of telling him at some point, but she knew that now was probably the worst possible time to drop that bomb on him. Some day, though.

The next morning, Briana woke up later than she usually did, due to her lack of sleep. As you may know by now, Briana is an early riser, so her waking up later than usual was when everyone else usually awoke. She got out of bed to find the other girls all getting dressed already, so she then quickly got ready for the day along with them. Her hair was still straight from yesterday and she was too lazy to do anything fancy with it so she simply gathered her shiny dark hair into a high ponytail before running down the stars with her school bag over her shoulder.

When she got to the common room, Chuck, Alex and Draco were all waiting patiently on a couch. This was something different because Briana was usually the first one up and therefore, she was always waiting for them. Briana smiled at the boys as she approached them and they promptly stood up.

"Morning, lovely," Briana smiled at Draco as he grabbed one of her hands and gave her a kiss.

"Morning, beautiful," he replied. "Someone slept a bit extra this morning."

"Had some trouble sleeping last night, nothing major."

"Where's Kaylee?", Chuck asked, looking back at the stairs every two seconds.

"Relax, your girlfriend was getting her shoes on when I left. She should be down in a moment," Briana told him.

"Meet us in the Hall when she comes down," Alex told him as he left the common room with Draco and Briana.

On the way there, Draco found an opportunity to bring up a topic to benefit Alex.

"So," Draco began, one of his arms draped around Briana's shoulders as they walked to Breakfast. "Who were you thinking about asking to the dance, Alex?"

He shrugged, "Nobody. Was planning to go solo."

"Why don't you ask Bridget to come?", he suggested meaningfully.

"Oh, that would be brilliant!", Briana exclaimed.

"I don't know..."

"What don't you know?", Draco asked him.

"Well for her to fly over here just for one dance? Seems a bit much."

"Tell her to come Thursday morning, then she can come to Chuck's birthday as well. And then she would also be here all weekend."

"Chuck's birthday?", Briana asked curiously. "When is his Birthday?"

"The twenty-ninth," Draco answered. "Of course, he's having a big party the day of, which is a Thursday."

"Oh, well then that would be perfect," she agreed. "Halloween is on the Saturday after, so she can arrive on Thursday and leave Sunday. She would only have to miss two days of school, and I really really want to meet her!"

"Not to mention, it would be the perfect time for you to make a move," Draco added.

"Alright, I'll send her an owl then," Alex gave in with a sigh, though he was smiling in spite of himself.

"So what's the low down for Chuck's party?", Briana asked them.

Draco snickered at her, "The 'low down'. Those Americans surely got to you, didn't they?"

She elbowed his ribs playfully as Alex explained, "Well you know Chuck, all sexual and whatnot..."

"Oh no...", Briana smirked, knowing that a Chuck party was bound to be anything but innocent.

"So he's decided that the theme for his party is going to be the Playboy Mansion," Alex announced, laughing slightly.

"You've got to be joking me!", Briana laughed too.

"Honestly! And so all you girls have to wear Playboy bunny costumes, though he did make a point that Kaylee ought to stand out more than the rest of you lot."

"So let me guess, he's going to be Hugh Hefner?", Briana asked, half-joking and half-serious.

"Exactly right," Alex nodded with a slight smirk on his own face.

"Oh Merlin...", Briana shook her head, yet smiled to herself.

"I don't need to hear your complaining," Draco nudged her as he looked his girlfriend up and down. "I'm personally looking very forward to seeing you in one of those outfits."

"I could stand to see you in a little less clothing as well," she smirked as she looked him over the same way.

"Ew," Alex gave them a look. "Stop undressing each other with your eyes, it's weird."

They laughed at him while he shook his head, smiling while they finally reached the hall, taking their seats at the Slytherin table. They sat down and ate their food in contempt just as Chuck and Kaylee walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand.

Draco whispered to Briana as he watched them together, "Amazing how you were able to set them up so quickly."

"I just encouraged him, that's all," she shrugged, taking a bite of toast.

"My girlfriend; the match-maker."

She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll never get tired of hearing you call me that."

Draco smiled to himself at a thought he had, and he almost said it out loud but convinced himself not to.

"Wait, so Dray," Briana asked quietly. "Are you coming to classes today, or...?"

"No, I have to go work on the cabinet. I'll be going after Breakfast. Sorry," he sent her an apologetic look.

"Don't be. If anything, I should be sorry for you," she laid her head on his shoulder, thinking sad thoughts about the subject.

"Hey," he lifted her chin up so she was looking into his blue eyes. "We'll all get through this and whatever else follows."

He put on a small, reassuring smile before giving her a long kiss on the lips. When they pulled away, she gave him a weak half-smile, but she couldn't rid of the feeling in her stomach that told her things weren't going to run as smoothly as everyone hoped.


	26. Chapter 25

It was mid October, and the first Quidditch practice for the Slytherin team came around. Draco had been given the position of Quidditch Slytherin Captain, but upon receiving his mission from Voldemort, he had to pass the position on to Blaise who understandably and quite happily took on the role. The sky was dark and it was raining again, yet Briana, Kaylee and Letha went to watch them practice anyway.

Just as Draco had began to miss several of his classes, he was absent for their first Quidditch practice. As soon as the entire team had made it to the Pitch, Blaise wasted no time in putting them to work as they ran drills, while he constantly yelled at them and blew his whistle.

"It's incredible how scary one can be when they're suddenly a Quidditch Captain," Kaylee commented, making a face.

"Can you imagine how much worse Draco would have been, though?", Briana said.

"Ugh, I don't even want to think about it," Letha shook her head.

"I'm glad he declined," admitted Kaylee. "This would have made him worse than he already seems, he's been acting so stressed out lately."

"I know, it's kind of making me nervous," Briana agreed.

"Really though, ever since you two became an item he's gotten so much better," Letha said with a smile on her face. "All the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's talk about how much happier we are because he's just... a better person."

"You hear that, lassie?", Kaylee spoke in an Irish accent for whatever reason. "Ya been helpin' out the entire castle, ya have."

"Oh, I really do try my best for the children," Briana flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically and batted her lashes and the three of them burst into raucous laughter before Blaise blew his whistle at them.

"Shut your traps, ladies!", he yelled at them from up high on his broomstick.

"Oh just go back to your play time, Blaisey," Kaylee waved him off dismissively. "I tell you, amazing how he can recover so brilliantly after that cold he had."

"It's all in the potion-making," Letha winked at them proudly.

"You make potions?", Briana asked her incredulously.

"Of course! It's practically my favorite thing to do."

Kaylee shook her head, "Damn you brilliant Ravenclaws, always got to be brighter than the rest of us."

"But nobody's brighter than Briana BRIGHTsman!", Briana attempted and failed at a joke as she grinned broadly at her friends, expecting some sort of reaction.

They stared blankly back at her.

"No?", she asked, making a pouting face.

"No," Letha confirmed, shaking her head and placing a hand on Briana's shoulder meaningfully.

"See, this is why you let Chuck and I make the jokes, lovely," Kaylee patted her friend's knee as the rain fell harder and the three girls called it quits, running back to the castle, though Blaise was too stubborn to end the team's practice quite yet.

They had made it back to the common room where the three of them dried off and warmed up in Briana and Kaylee's dormitory. Letha stole a bit of both of their clothes before the three of them decided collectively to go to the Library. On their way there, Briana mentioned to them about how she and Draco had convinced Alex to ask Bridget to the dance and as she expected, Kaylee and Letha were both extremely excited to meet the girl as well.

After climbing multiple pairs of moving staircases (which Letha noted that she hated, having lost a few books because of them) the girls finally made it to the third floor. At the top of the stairs, they were about to turn to walk down the short corridor, but Kaylee had stopped abruptly, causing Letha and Briana to lightly run into her.

"What are you doing?", Briana asked her curiously.

"Look," Kaylee nodded in the direction opposite of which the Library was.

Briana and Letha followed her gaze to see that it was Draco. He had just come from an upper staircase and was now pacing in a corridor, his face looking incredibly irritated and angry. They were barely able to hear him swearing under his breath as he continued to walk back and forth.

"What's gotten into him lately? He's so off these days," Letha wondered aloud.

"It's just family stuff," Briana lied, feeling a little guilty about it.

"Well one thing's for sure, I am avoiding any contact with him while he's in that mood," Kaylee said, slowly advancing to the Library as if to prove her point.

"Go work your magic, Briana," Letha nudged her, walking slowly away with Kaylee.

"Alright, I'll talk to you guys later," Briana said to them quietly before walking towards her boyfriend as Kaylee and Letha didn't hesitate to run straight into the Library.

Briana held the few books she had to her chest as she slowly made her way to the corridor where Draco was still pacing angrily. She stopped near one of the stain-glass windows that showed a couple of wizards playing Quidditch, as rain poured down on it from the outside. She watched him pace and murmur to himself angrily for a few seconds before he realized she was there.

He stopped walking for a minute and looked at her. "Hi," was all he said before he continued in the same fashion as before,

"What's going on?", she asked quietly, reminding herself to stay calm and collected. She knew just how to handle him in these sort of situations.

"I'm just incredibly stressed at the moment."

"I figured that much," she mumbled honestly as he shot her a short glare.

"I've got my first plan ready to be set in motion, and I'm just sort of freaking out. It might not work, you know! It's... it's just stressful!", he had finally stopped pacing and was now leaning his back on one of the stone walls, running a hand through his hair.

"Well calm down, it's going to be alright," she assured him as she took one of his hands and began to lead him away.

They ventured up three more staircases until Briana found a tower with absolutely nothing in it but a few lamps that dimly lit the room. The sun was almost setting already, even though it was merely four o'clock in the afternoon. Winter was surely coming along. Once there, Briana set down her books and took a seat where she could see a large amount of the school grounds below them. She motioned for her blonde companion to join her, which he did, dragging his feet the way there. He was still not in the greatest of moods.

Once they had settled a bit, she took one of his hands in both of hers and told him to explain to her what his plan was. He continued on to tell her all about how he had obtained the Cursed Necklace from Borgin (he also had to explain to her how it worked and what it did) then told her how during the Hogsmeade trip this weekend he would use the Imperius curse on Madam Rosmerta, who would use the same curse on Katie Bell who would deliver the Cursed Necklace to Dumbledore. The only one who was to touch the actual necklace was Dumbledore, who would die upon simply grazing a finger on its surface. Everyone else who ever possessed the necklace, including Draco himself, would be holding it in its packaging.

Briana thought the whole thing sounded terrible, considering it was a plot to assassinate their headmaster. But as far as scheming goes, it wasn't too shabby of an idea; therefore, she commended Draco on his heavy thinking. He voiced his concerns on how it could go wrong, or how he might not be able to bring himself to use the Imperius curse so easily, but in the end, Briana had convinced him to try to think of only the positives. And even if this plan didn't work out, he still had several more months. It was Thursday, and the Hogsmeade trip was to take place on Saturday, in a sort of pre-mature and miniature celebration of Halloween.

The two of them had sat in silence for a few minutes then, Briana sitting and Draco laying with his head resting contently in her lap. He closed his eyes peacefully as she played with and pet his hair, because she knew ho deeply he enjoyed that. Then a separate thought struck her as she stared out at the muddy grass of the school's grounds.

"Draco?", she asked in a low, serene volume.

"Hmm," it was barely a reply, he was finally so calm and relieved of his previous worries.

"I was just thinking..."

"Thinking...?"

"Well you know I've got to go home tomorrow, just for the day. For my dance photos, of course."

"Mm hmm," he hummed, his eyes still shut.

"You should come with me. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I've just realized that we haven't told our parents about us. Er, I haven't anyway," she stated.

He opened his eyes and looked up at her, "I didn't even think about that. Alright, in that case, I shall come."

She smiled and continued to stroke his white-blonde hair, "What do you think their reactions will be?"

"They will have either seen this coming and not be surprised at all, or they will have never guessed this would happen and be completely taken by surprise."

Briana laughed because it was so true, "Seems pretty accurate to me."

"I imagine my mother will be pleased as punch though; she loves you so much," Draco added.

"Really?"

He nodded, "She may be even more excited than Kaylee and Letha were."

Briana chuckled at the thought before another peaceful silence set among them, and the sky only grew darker, the sun setting. A few minutes later, Briana decided the two of them ought to make their way to the Hall for dinner.

On the way there, Draco told Briana that the first thing he would do was his "jewelry plan" as they referred to it as, and that as soon as he was finished with that, the two of them would spend the entire rest of the day together in the Hogsmeade Village. They also saw the Slytherin Quidditch team making their way into the castle after an extremely tiring, wet, muddy, and extensive practice. Alex and Chuck were covered entirely in rain, dirt and mud, and when they saw Briana and Draco in the corridor ahead of them, they ran toward them at stop speed.

Draco was too quick though and barely jumped out of range, but the two boys had engulfed Briana in a tight, disgusting and soaking hug. They said things like "oh, we love you Briana" and "you're such a good friend", while her face was contorted in discomfort and disgust. They finally let her go, her sweater wet and slightly muddy as they laughed and ran away with the rest of their team. Draco had laughed at her too, and she had to join in before being sure to give her boyfriend a hug too. Sharing is caring, she told him slyly as they entered the Great Hall, both of them displaying small mud stains on their sweaters.

The next morning, Briana didn't do much with her appearance, knowing that once she arrived to the studio to get her photos taken, they would doll her up anyway. She took a shower and got dressed in something warm and comfortable, glancing out the window to see it dark, grey and barely raining as usual.

Walking down the stairs to the Common Room, she was the only one awake again so she took to the couch to read a book as she waited for someone - anyone, really - to get up. Flipping the pages slowly as she read, a good twenty minutes went by before any of her House mates appeared from one of the staircases. Two of them came down together at once: Ethan Bentley and a good friend of his named Derek. Briana pretended not to notice them and hid her face in her book as they walked through the common room without paying her a single glance.

She gave a small sigh of relief and lowered her book back down as Blaise and Draco finally joined her.

"Finally!", she exclaimed, jumping up when she saw them. "I'm abnormally hungry today, and I feel like I've been waiting for hours."

"Well I'm sorry that you have to wake up so damn early every morning," Blaise sent her of face of mock concern.

"Oh shut up, let's go eat already," she pulled a face before grabbing their arms and rushing towards the Hall.

Once there, she immediately began eating the first thing she saw as Draco and Blaise shared a look of amusement.

"So," Blaise began. "Draco tells me you two are ditching school today."

"It's not considered ditching if the Headmaster gave us permission to leave for the day," Draco retorted.

"Touche."

"Why would it matter, anyway?", Briana asked Blaise.

"It doesn't, I was just curious... How long is your little photo shoot supposed to last?"

"Maybe a bit more than an hour total."

"So why are you going to be gone all day?", he sent them a suggestive look.

"Shut up, Blaise," Briana gave him a look or her own.

"Just a question!"

"Well if you want to know," Draco said. "We're actually telling our parents. Because, you know. We haven't told them yet."

"Ah, I see," Blaise nodded for a minute before sending Briana another suggestive look just to bother her, which he did successfully as she threw a strawberry at his head.

Throughout Breakfast, the rest of their friends showed up on their own schedules as they usually did, all eight of them eating Breakfast together. (Letha practically joined them at the Slytherin table for every meal.) Classes began to start though, and Briana and Draco bid goodbye to their friends as the two of them made their way to Dumbledore's office where the would use Floo Powder in order to apparate back to Wiltshire, where both Malfoy and Brightsman Manor resided.


End file.
